Force India Jerez test notes 2007-12-06

Ralf Schumacher and Vitantonio Liuzzi took over for the third day of the Force India Formula One Team's test programme in Jerez, southern Spain. Unfortunately however the day was heavily interrupted by several lengthy red flag periods, which disrupted both drivers' programmes over the course of the day.

Both drivers worked on gathering more information on the 2008 control systems, general set-up work and tyre evaluation, however did not complete their respective programmes due to the interspersed runs.

On his first run in the Force India car, Ralf Schumacher unfortunately experienced hydraulic problems in the morning, and had to abort his shorter runs due to the stoppages, however his pace, consistency and speed over longer stints was particularly impressive.

Tonio Liuzzi, on his second full day with the team, similarly had a frustrating day with the stops, but his feedback and speed over shorter runs will help the team with its programme going forward into the final day tomorrow.

James Key, technical director:

"Overall it was a difficult day with several stoppages, however this morning was quite productive. Tonio got a fair few laps in and gave some good feedback, which seemed to take the car in the right direction and his shorter runs were consistent."

"For Ralf it was more difficult as we had some issues with the car initially, which unfortunately slowed things down, especially as it was his first time with the team and his first without control systems. Over the longer runs it came together pretty well for him though and he was very consistent. Once again though it has been a very useful day of feedback for the team from experienced drivers."

Ralf Schumacher:

"It was a difficult day today as it was my first time with the team and I had to learn about how to work with the 2008 electronics. Unfortunately we had some problems with the car in the morning and then lots of red flags in the afternoon, but when we went for the long runs it was quite promising."

"When we had some new tyres on, unfortunately in the morning we didn't get it right, and the second was interrupted by a red flag. Although it was a difficult day, it was still good and I think we did get some good information."

Vitantonio Liuzzi:

"It was positive and I am happy with the work we did. Unfortunately there were a lot of red flags so we couldn't run our second set of tyres to the full extent, but I am happy with the car balance and the way we worked together. We did some long runs and didn't find a perfect set up, but now for sure we have a lot of work to do on the car. I felt I did the maximum though."

-credit: force india