Force India pleased with "successful" day of testing

Test driver Nicholas Lafiti completed 103 laps in the first day of testing at the in season test at the Hungaroring and chief race engineer Tom McCullough is pleased with their progress.

Force India have had a difficult few weeks, with the team filing for administration amid takeover rumours.

Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon finished 14th and 13th respectively at the Hungarian Grand Prix following an excellent run which saw three double points finishes in the three races previous to last weekend.

Force India sit sixth in the Constructors’ Championship and have been challenging Renault for the title as ‘best of the rest’ which they have won in both of the previous two seasons.

Lafiti finished seventh out of the ten cars that ran today with a fastest lap of 1:19:994.

McCullough was pleased with the progress made and with youngster Lafiti’s driving.

He said: “It was overall a successful day. We managed to get all the aero data we set out to obtain, something that was critical for our 2019 car development.

“We had a new front wing on the car, alongside other test items and instrumentation. Nicholas didn’t put a foot wrong all day – he settled straight back into the team and, as it was clear from the previous times he was in the car, he was able to do useful work from the first lap.

“The heavy rain showers in the afternoon meant we had to cut our programme short, but we still managed a solid 103 laps so we can be satisfied with our work.”