Can talent still beat money in F1?

James Calado is confident talent can still secure a place in Formula One over money as he takes part in a series of tests with Force India this week. Calado set the fastest time on Wednesday morning at the Young Driver Test and is testing again on Thursday and Friday morning. It is the GP2 driver's first taste of Formula One, aside from straight-line testing, and he is confident that achieving his dream of being a race driver is possible without large amounts of money to contribute to a team.

"Formula One has the best cars you can drive and the best drivers in the world, so of course it's going to be very difficult," he said. "Over the years it's got tougher with money being a big factor, but I'm a believer in talent showing and getting you through and all I can do is do as good a job as I can in the GP2 car and when I'm doing days like this. I'm not really thinking of the future, although I do realise it's hard, but I can only do the best I can."

Force India has a history of bringing drivers into its race team after offering them Friday morning drives at race weekends, but Calado said securing Friday tests was not at the top of his mind right now.

"You don't think about that as a driver," he said. "This [Wednesday] morning it felt very good and I'm just giving as much feedback to the team as possible."