Abu Dhabi: Positive Day for Kvyat and Toro Rosso
Even though everything wasn't perfect, Daniil Kvyat is satisfied with his Friday in Abu Dhabi. On the other side of the Toro Rosso garage, Jean-Eric Vergne encountered some issues but remains confident for the rest of the weekend.
Daniil Kvyat finished in the top 10 during both free practice sessions held this Friday on the Yas Marina track. The day was not easy for the young Russian, but he remains positive nonetheless.
« The conditions changed quite quickly here because obviously we started when it was hot, in the middle of the day, and we finished with cooler temperatures, almost at night. It was interesting to experience this change of conditions and I think we learned something today, which was very important for a Friday, » explains Kvyat.
Jean-Eric Vergne experienced a roller-coaster day, finishing 6th in FP1 and then 14th in FP2. However, the Frenchman is not worried because he encountered an issue with his power unit that explains the performance gap: « Overall, it was a good Friday. The car wasn’t exactly to my liking, especially this afternoon, where we didn’t have the optimal engine settings, which explains why I wasn’t very fast in FP2. We also suffered from understeer, but I’m confident everything will be resolved for tomorrow. »
Phil Charles, chief race engineer for the Faenza team, expects a complicated equation with the tires as the super-softs are not easy to handle at the moment: « Our long stints are relatively better than the short ones, the super-softs do not last very long. It will therefore be interesting to see what will happen tomorrow and Sunday. »
