Sergio Perez feels Force India’s momentum is changing, as the Mexican driver heads to this weekends’ Spanish Grand Prix on the back of his first points of the season.

Perez opened his 2016 campaign with a scoreless trio of scruffy races, while the Silverstone-based outfit struggled to re-capture the sort of pace that elevated it to a best ever result of fifth place in last year’s Constructors’ championship.

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However, the 26-year-old thinks Force India turned a corner in Sochi, with Perez claiming a hard-fought ninth-place finish last time out.

“It was important to get back into the points in Russia,” he said. “The car performed very well all weekend and I can feel the progress we’ve made since the start of the year.

“It was not a smooth race, but we didn’t give up and scoring two points was a good recovery. It’s been a difficult start to the year, but it feels like the momentum is changing now and the performance in Sochi was a big boost for all of us.”

Force India will have a “comprehensive” upgrade to the VJM09 this weekend, with chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer telling F1i’s Chris Medland than it will be “almost as big” as last year’s successful B-spec car.

Perez is happy to sample the evolution at Circuit de Barcelona, as the Montmelo track is always a good performance indicator.

“Barcelona will be the first chance to run our updated car. It’s going to be a huge task to understand everything on Friday, but it’s always exciting to try new parts on the car.

“I enjoy the layout because it’s a true test of your car with a bit of everything, especially long, quick corners, which all the drivers enjoy. It’s a track where you feel the physical demands, especially on your neck, but overall it’s just a great place to experience a Formula One car.

“The only downside is that it’s difficult to overtake, but it’s still possible with DRS on the approach to turn one, especially if the car ahead is suffering with high tyre degradation.”

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