Force India development driver James Rossiter says his test outing at Jerez has been 'very useful' for the correlation between the VJM06 and its simulator counterpart. The Briton, who racked up 61 laps over the course of his Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning sessions, was completing his first Formula 1 test since 2008.
"It has been four and a half years since I last drove a Formula 1 car, but with the simulator experience I’ve built up recently it didn’t take too long to get back up to speed," said Rossiter, who finished sixth on the timesheets at the end of Wednesday's running. "The programme today has been very useful for getting a feel for the car as a reference for the simulator.
"The cars have changed quite a lot and it was the first time I’ve used KERS. It’s important to know how the tyres behave and we’ve worked hard to try and understand them. That will help make the simulator model more representative as a way of exploiting the car’s potential."
The day did feature a rather bizarre pit lane moment for Rossiter, however, who slid past his marks and hit the front jackman when returning to the Force India garage.
"I’ll hold my hands up, that was totally my fault," Rossiter explained. "We were doing some aero runs and everything was cold. The brakes were too cold, the tyres were too cold and I came in too fast.
"Thank god Marcus is okay, he’s just got a few bruises. I am sure that I will be buying him many beers and he won't be forgetting it soon."
Force India’s 2012 reserve driver, Jules Bianchi, will sample the VJM06 on Friday. He is expected to be signed as Paul di Resta’s team-mate for the 2013 campaign.
Series
Formula 1
Personalities
James Rossiter
Teams
Force India F1
Other
DTM Tickets (best price guarantee!) at Sportstadium.com
| Pos. | Driver | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  F. Massa | 01:17.879 | 85 |
| 2. | N. Rosberg | 01:18.766 | 148 |
| 3. | S. Vettel | 01:19.052 | 102 |
| 4. | K. Raikkonen | 01:19.200 | 40 |
| 5. | J. Vergne | 01:19.247 | 85 |
| 6. | J. Rossiter | 01:19.303 | 42 |
| 7. | J. Button | 01:19.603 | 83 |
| 8. | E. Gutiérrez | 01:19.934 | 110 |
| 9. | M. Chilton | 01:21.269 | 78 |
| 10. | V. Bottas | 01:21.575 | 86 |
| Full results | |||
| James Rossiter | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |  | |  |
| More James Rossiter photos | |||
English
Nederlands
Español
Italiano
