Force India buoyed by new updates

The German ended the second free practice in an encouraging seventh place while Fisichella was 12th.

"It's quite good balance-wise for a Friday, we can still tweak the general set-up and we still have to look at the brakes as I'm not 100% comfortable right now," said Sutil. "I think the update package has helped us - if I look at my position in the afternoon, I think it is the best position I have been in ever on a Friday.

"Although it's difficult to draw conclusions from this, the car feels good so let's see how we go tomorrow."

Fisichella was equally buoyant about the progress the team has made with the car.

"Today I am happier and more comfortable with the car: it feels like we have made a step forward with the new updates," said Fisichella. "The car is more consistent and I think we have reduced the gap to the others but let's see tomorrow.

"The team did a fantastic job to have this package here and I look forward to tomorrow to seeing where we are on the grid."