Friday: Toro Rosso hopes for rain
Like many teams, Toro Rosso had brought updates to their car for the German Grand Prix. Both drivers were also able to improve their understanding of wet and intermediate tires and were pleased with the car's behavior. Nonetheless, Vergne regretted a balance issue with the extreme weather tires, but nothing that couldn't be fixed for tomorrow.
Daniel Ricciardo – 14th and 7th:
« The morning went well in the sense that we did numerous laps and had plenty of track time. We evaluated some changes on the front wing and conducted a few aerodynamic tests to provide data to the mechanics and engineers. Then we resumed the normal Friday program and I stayed on the Medium tires, instead of trying the new experimental Hard tire. Considering the number of laps I did, I think the lap times weren’t too bad and I hope we can be more competitive here than at Silverstone. This afternoon’s incident? I just locked the front and slid into the gravel. There was no damage and I’m glad I didn’t hit anything. The wet running went well and might be useful if we have rain in qualifying. »
Jean-Eric Vergne – 17th and 11th:
« In wet conditions, the car ran pretty well and the lap times didn’t mean much given that I was using the experimental Hard tires provided by Pirelli. I felt that the car was good during Free Practice 1, which means we have a decent car for dry conditions if that’s what awaits us for the rest of the weekend. Then in the rain, I was pleasantly surprised by how well things went with the rain tires. When I used the intermediates, we didn’t have the right balance, but I’m confident that we can solve that, in which case I would be delighted if we had rain tomorrow afternoon for qualifying. »
