Force India driver Sergio Perez admits the team are braced for a “painful start” to the new season, having only tested their new car for two and a half days.
The outfit struggled to get its VJM08 ready for the pre-season tests due to cashflow problems, which pushed its debut back to the second day of the final test in Barcelona.
Whilst it ran smoothly and completed hundreds of laps without major issue, the Mexican driver admitted they’re not where they need to be just yet.
“What we do know is we are not where we were expecting to be in terms of pace for the first race,” Perez said. “But we’ve got to look forward and the whole team is working well together.
“It is going to be a painful start to the year but I am sure we will get to where we want to be very soon.”
When asked if points were his aim for the first race, he called that an almost impossibility, though noted that the first race can often throw up strange results.
“I think that would be a mega job from everyone considering where the car is, but in Melbourne you never know what can happen. I think purely with our pace that would not really be possible but we will try with the strategy and we will try other things, but who knows? Anything can happen here in Melbourne, we just have to be there to take any opportunity that is offered to us.”
