Tuesday 24 June at 19:53 : Force India's British Grand Prix preparations got underway today with the first day of a three-day test at the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit, UK. Tonio Liuzzi was on driving duties at the 5.141km track as the team tested a major aerodynamic upgrade for the VJM01.

With the British round of the championship under two weeks away, Tonio also worked on set-up and preparation for the race. The Italian completed 108 laps with a best of 1:22.250.

Giancarlo will continue tomorrow, with further updates scheduled to be tested over the course of the day.

Team quotes
Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer
'A very useful and busy day of testing, with Tonio completing 108 laps in total. We had the first stage of our major aero update, running a new front wing, bodywork and diffuser, which all ran successfully and performed exactly as predicted. Tonio also tested a new fuel system and went on to do set up work for the Grand Prix. For tomorrow and Adrian's running on Thursday we have some further major aerodynamic and suspension updates, so today was overall a very useful first day knowing there is more to come.'

Tonio Liuzzi
'Today was a long day with a lot of laps as fortunately the weather stayed dry and we could get some consistent running. The guys did a really good job and the car was very reliable. As a result it was a good day of testing. The new parts we ran gave a positive impact on the car and Giancarlo and Adrian will have some more bits to test for the rest of the test. We covered a lot of miles and did some quick laps and the balance of the car felt better. The new package is working well so far and hopefully in the next two days we will improve the speed as well.'

Testing data
Driver: Tonio Liuzzi
Track: Silverstone Grand Prix, UK
Best lap time: 1min 22.250
Laps completed: 108
Kilometres completed: 555km
Air temperature: High of 20ºC
Track temperature: High of 34ºC
Weather: Dry, sunny periods but overcast in the afternoon