Friday: Toro Rosso seems as good as in China
A productive day for Toro Rosso drivers who are generally satisfied with their two practice sessions. Vergne also believes that his car could confirm in Bahrain the potential glimpsed in Shanghai.
Jean-Eric Vergne – 14th and 12th:
Hot workday but it’s okay because we can breathe some fresh air on the straights. At the end of a day where everything worked well, it seems our pace is similar to that of China. Everything seems quite positive and I had good sensations in the car.
Regarding the tires, the difference between the hardest and the softest is not as great as in China, but the heat causes a lot of thermal degradation, which will complicate the race for us a bit.
Daniel Ricciardo – 15th and 14th:
The first day here is quite complicated since the track is always dusty in the morning, making car setup rather delicate, while the track constantly improves. Consequently, we are forced not to let ourselves be too disturbed by the numerous changes.
In the afternoon, we were tempted to make some changes, and I’m not sure there was any improvement. So tonight, we need to look at the data and decide which direction to take tomorrow. We did a lot of laps, so we have a lot of data to study, and I believe we have a good foundation to work from.
The Medium tires we tried this afternoon will obviously be the fastest for qualifying, but the gap [between the two compounds, editor’s note] is not as significant as last weekend. I think not pushing too hard with the tires is paying off.
Regarding the heat, I’m from Perth [in Australia, editor’s note] so I’ve been waiting for some sun for a long time.
