Toro Rosso drivers satisfied with the new features and their tests
Like some of their colleagues, the Toro Rosso drivers used this first day of testing at the Austrian GP to test new parts, and the tests were positive. Max Verstappen is satisfied with his Friday, Carlos Sainz Jr is too, even though he had more difficulty finding his rhythm.
Present in the middle of the pack during both sessions held today at the Red Bull Ring, the Toro Rosso drivers expressed satisfaction with their day, during which they notably tested several new features.
A rather good first day here in Austria. Our two drivers have acclimatized well and we were able to test new parts on both cars, which performed positively, specifies Phil Charles, chief race engineer of the Faenza team.
Max Verstappen, 8th in FP1 and FP2, expressed his satisfaction with his Friday spent testing the new features in FP1 and seeking performance in FP2. However, the Dutchman believes he could have done a little better in terms of lap time, which is positive for the rest of the weekend: « We had some new elements, so we used the first session to test them and I was quite happy with that session. It was important to complete many laps this morning, and we then made the right choice for FP2. The lap times weren’t too bad with both the soft and super-soft tires. It’s a shame I was slightly hindered in the final sector with the super-softs as I could have finished in a better position. »
Carlos Sainz, ranked like his teammate in the same place – 11th – during the two sessions of the day, struggled a bit more to get into the rhythm with a “dirty” track at the start of the weekend. But the Spanish driver believes he has done his part to help the team evaluate the new parts and will now work with his engineers to define the best strategy for the rest of the weekend.
« It was a challenge today. The track was very slippery and there wasn’t much grip, but overall we did a good job as a team. We split the program for both cars to gather a lot of aerodynamic data and at the moment, it’s hard to know what will be best for tomorrow, as some things work better in the race, and others better in qualifying… So there is going to be a lot of analysis to do tonight to determine the best option to choose, » explains Sainz Jr.
