(Sahara Force India Formula One Team)
The Sahara Force India Formula One Team had GP2 champion Joylon Palmer driving the VJM07. The British driver was making his Formula One debut and is expected according to reports to join the Silverstone based outfit next season as their official test and reserve driver.
Palmer completed 37 laps over the course of the day despite an issue with the Mercedes power unit in the back of his Sahara Force India VJM07 chassis 04.
Palmer ended the day in fourth place overall completing mileage of 205KM and set a fastest tune if 1m 44.516s. Speaking following his first ever outing in a Formula One car, Palmer commented on his day saying:
'I really enjoyed my first experience at the wheel of a Formula One car. I always had the ambition to drive a Formula One car: it was surreal when I first got out of the pits, but after the first moment I was just focusing on getting the job done for the team and doing my best.
Despite a few technical issues early on, in the end we managed to get back on track and have a solid hour of running, getting up to speed fairly quickly. What really stood out for me is the power delivery of a Formula One car, compared to what I am used to in GP2: I heard lots about it all year, but to actually experience it first hand, feeling it as I drove was impressive.
Knowing the track in advance helps only a little as you get to the various corners and drive through them at completely different speeds to what you are used to; but not having to get to know the layout made it possible to just concentrate on our testing programme.
I have learnt a lot working with the team, seeing how everyone operates, and I am really happy about today's experience. Sahara Force India is a team that gives young drivers good chances and I would love to get a role with them. They developed Paul Di Resta into a good racer, created a meaningful FP1 programme for Jules Bianchi and generally do a really good work with their reserve drivers.'
On Wednesday, the final day of Formula One on track running, Australian Spike Goddard will take over the cockpit of the VJM07. Speaking about today's test Sahara Force India Chief Engineer Tom McCullough stated:
'It’s always exciting being part of a driver’s first day driving a Formula One car and Jolyon certainly acquitted himself well. He settled into the team very quickly and everyone was impressed with his approach to the day, especially his communication with the engineers.
The early part of the day involved some aero data collection, which went to plan and should give us some useful information for the design of next year’s car. It was a shame that we suffered an issue with the engine towards the end of the morning, which confined us to the garage for a large part of the day. The crew did a good job to get the car out for the final hour of running to give Jolyon some more valuable mileage.'
© Ben Johnston 2014
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