Force India to skip first pre-season test

Force India have announced that they will not attend the first pre-season test of 2015 as was originally planned, and will instead shift their focus to the second and third tests at Barcelona.

Having already declared that they would not run their 2015 car, the VJM08, car in Jerez, the Silverstone-based team had intended to run their 2014 machine instead. However, the squad have now decided to skip the opening test entirely, saying on Twitter that "learning opportunities would have been limited".

While it is not uncommon for squads to favour extra development time over early track running in a bid to gain an advantage, Force India are currently the only team to confirm they will miss this year’s opening test.

Their decision comes one week after drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez revealed a sleek new livery in a special launch in Mexico City.