Team to run 'B-spec' VJM08 at this weekend's British GP; But Perez and Hulkenberg aware it may take longer to maximise new package
Wednesday 8 July 2015 11:41, UK
Sergio Perez believes Force India can realistically chase down former world champions Red Bull if the heavily-revised car they are debuting at Silverstone delivers what they expect.
After testing a number of the new parts that make up their long-awaited British GP upgrade – including the unusual and eye-catching ‘nostril’ style nose – at last week’s Austrian test, Force India are introducing the full package for Silverstone on both Perez and Nico Hulkenberg’s VJM08s.
Despite having effectively run an updated version of last year’s VJM07 aero package for the first eight rounds of the campaign, Force India surprisingly sit in fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship, two points ahead of fellow Mercedes engine customer Lotus, after particularly strong points-scoring results in Canada and Austria.
Now armed with their long-awaited update, Perez says the team should be pleased with what they have achieved so far and now should be able to push on from here.
“The whole team have been waiting so much for this upgrade – it’s our first upgrade, basically, throughout the year,” the Mexican said at Silverstone on Thursday. “But it’s so nice to look back at this time and see what we have achieved as a team, knowing where we were two or three months ago.
“Now everyone forgets we did two days of testing before the first race and that our car was really hurried to make it to the first race. Now we are fifth in the Constructors’, plenty of points in the Drivers’ Championship, and plenty to come. So I’m really optimistic and I’m sure it can be a great year.”
In addition to the nose, Perez confirmed that the new package includes changes to “the floor, adaptations to the chassis, some parts of the rear of the floor and the diffuser” with the team’s aerodynamists attempting to improve the air flow over the car.
Even without the new parts for the start of the season, Force India sit just 24 points behind under-performing Red Bull and their deputy team principal Bob Fernley has already suggested that the Silverstone-based team can target the fallen F1 superpower.
Perez agrees that catching Red Bulls isn’t out of the question over the final 11 rounds.
“That should be our target, to try to chase Red Bull on the points,” he declared.
“If the upgrade goes well and everything goes well with this new car then we should aim for Red Bull, definitely."
Team-mate Hulkenberg, meanwhile, was more circumspect when asked if such a goal was achievable, with the German aware that Force India may not instantly extract the best of the package in Friday practice.
"Bob is optimistic there! It really depends where we put ourselves with this package," Hulkenberg said. "We put it on tomorrow and we expect we gain straight away some performance. But often it is the case, with limited running and tyre deg[radation] in practice, you only learn so much and you need more time with the car.
"It’s very unusual and common that you bring something and straight away it’s OK, but then you keep finding performance in the next couple of races and weekends."
Hulkenberg is nonetheless "very excited" to finally get his hands on the new-look car and says Force India's designers should be commended on their novel nose design.
"It’s good that our boys can up with a solution that nobody else has and we have now. We don’t know yet how good it’s going to be, but it proves they’re innovative and working hard," he said. "It’s difficult to say because this package is a new aero philosophy for us that has been done in the Cologne wind tunnel, so we don’t really have much of a reference there.
But while Force India are naturally optimistic about the potential of the new package, Perez acknowledged that the team couldn't take their eyes off the teams immediately behind them in the standings either. Just 12 points separate Force India in fifth to Toro Rosso in eighth.
“I’m surprised about Lotus because when we see all the simulations they seem to be half a second a lap quicker than us,” Perez suggested. “But for some reason, reliability issues and so on, they haven’t been able to exploit the full potential.
“So I think they are a big threat. Toro Rosso have a mega car, when we go to downforce circuits like here they should be very strong. They are the two main ones."
