Nico Hulkenberg says Force India “can’t afford to stand still” after introducing its B-spec VJM08, as he targets a fourth consecutive points finish at this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
The upgraded Force India made its highly anticipated debut in Britain a fortnight ago, with both Hulkenberg and team-mate Sergio Perez scoring and deputy team principal Bob Fernley telling F1i the new car was “a massive step forward”.
“The last race at Silverstone was a lot of fun,” said Hulkenberg. “I’m very pleased with the B-spec update and happy with our performance across the whole weekend.
“After the first couple of laps in the new car I knew we had made a step in the right direction and I had a smile on my face. We obviously need to keep exploring our package, but it was satisfying to get a good result at the team’s home race.”
On the back of a two consecutive double points finish, Force India heads to Budapest intending to refine its updated charger, which features a unique nose cone and slimmer rear bodywork.
Although the Silverstone-based squad already has more upgrades “in the pipeline” for after the summer break, Hulkenberg insists his team cannot drop the ball at any time if it wants to reel in fourth-placed Red Bull.
“The engineers have spent the last couple of weeks digging deep into the data because we can’t afford to stand still. We need to keep pushing in this direction and getting more performance from the car.
“There’s a good feeling in the team and I think we can be competitive again this weekend. The low and medium-speed corners should suit us and the tyre choices are a bit softer than Silverstone, which should help us.”
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