Perez: Force India ‘a couple of steps behind’

Sergio Perez says Force India is “a couple of steps behind the competition” but insists the team will make quick progress.

Force India only launched its 2015 car - the VJM08 - just before the lunch break on Friday afternoon. With only two and a half days of running with the new car possible before the end of testing, Perez says the team was always going to be playing catch up but already knows where it has to improve over the coming weeks.

“It was exciting to find out about the new car,” Perez said. “It was so good that we had a reference from the old car. Obviously we are a couple of steps behind the competition, we only had two days; that’s a reality, we cannot hide it. But I think it was a positive start.

“I think it will take us a couple of races to get where we want to be, but the most important thing and something that makes me feel a bit more comfortable is we have a very clear direction on where we have to improve the car and the steps we have to make as a team to improve the car.

“So that makes me a bit more comfortable but it’s a lot of work ahead of us and we are a couple of steps behind our competition.”

Perez only drove the car on Sunday, finishing the final day of testing with the sixth fastest time, 2.1s behind Valtteri Bottas’ Williams.

The final day of testing as it happened