Nico Hulkenberg says there is no reason to get "over-excited" with putting Force India top of the third day of testing in Barcelona.
Hulkenberg finished 2.7s clear of the nearest man after a super-soft run in the afternoon to cap a day which saw him accumulate 99 laps behind the wheel. The German driver is happy to admit Force India was simply chasing performance at a time when its rivals were not on Wednesday.
"To be honest, I wouldn't get too excited at this early stage," Hulkenberg said. "I think today we tried a bit more to see and to test where our package stands at the moment more than the competition today, for sure. No reason to get over-excited. But yeah, I think the package looks okay so far, but still a lot of work in front of us."
Asked if there was any fuel in his car when he did the headline time, he replied: "Yes, there was actually! Enough to do a few laps. No, I think a good positive day, good impressions. Obviously learning about the car. Probably we tested a bit more, tested our package out a bit more what we were able to do than the competition today, but it's not that much time till Melbourne, so we've got to get started and learn about the car. Very encouraging, positive and good day."
Hulkenberg says his initial impressions of the VJM09 are good but he is refusing to get carried away at this early stage.
"If you look where we finished last year, we were pretty decent. This car... It's always difficult to compare after a couple of months when tyres change and some small bits change, but it does feel good, it does feel the right direction. But, you know we can't stop working - we need to keep improving, working hard. We haven't done even one race yet, you know - we don't know really where we're going to be. So far, so good."