Sergio Perez set the fifth best time, though the Mexican brought out the second red flag of the day when his Force India VJM07 came to a smoking halt at Turn 1 on the second day of pre-season testing, in Jerez.
Perez completed 37 laps at the Spanish circuit after overnight rain had left the circuit damp on Wednesday.
Tyre manufacturer Pirelli decided to bring forward wet-weather tyre test and sent trucks onto the track before the start of the session to artificially water the surface and make sure it was sufficiently wet.
Testing will continue at Jerez, which will see another Sahara Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg behind the wheels. “Today was a lot more productive, so in that respect we are making progress as we learn about the car. We still have a long way to go with understanding the complexity of all the systems. It’s important that the next two days with Nico and Daniel give us the information we need before we arrive in Bahrain. It will be only then that we can hopefully start to work on performance,” Perez said.
Force India’s Technical Director Andrew Green said the team has taken a step forward with each run and every lap giving the drivers valuable information about the car.
“We have been able to build up to doing longer and longer runs. Our second day in Jerez has been positive as we have continued to build on the work we completed on Wednesday. We remain on a very steep learning curve, but I am encouraged with the progress we have made so far and every lap we complete gives us more valuable information. The focus ahead will be for more of the same as we give Nico his first day in the car.”
