Friday: Toro Rosso pleasantly surprised
Despite a tricky start to the weekend due to the still green track, Toro Rosso is satisfied with its first day on Texan soil. The two drivers of the Italian team delivered promising performances for the future, so optimism is in order.
Daniel Ricciardo – 12th and 15th:
The track is up to the expectations we had before coming here, even though the lack of grip spoils things a bit. However, as the track gets rubbered in and cleaned, I’m sure it will get better. The level of grip improved between the morning and the afternoon, but I’m expecting a little more. In fact, next year we might find a completely different circuit, even by Sunday I think it will be more fun.
« The slippery conditions meant that it was difficult to understand the car’s behavior. We improved it between the two sessions but we need to continue in this direction tomorrow. The tires take time to warm up, and this is one of the trickiest aspects of our package that we need to look into. It will clearly be an important factor in tomorrow’s qualifying. »
Jean-Eric Vergne – 13th and 16th:
I must say that it’s really a great circuit, I like it a lot. It’s very tricky with many places where you can overtake, even without the DRS I see a few corners where you can pass, which will be a good thing for the show and it’s also excellent from a driving perspective. There isn’t a corner that I didn’t find interesting.
« Technically, it was a bit tricky because this morning there was no grip at all but I would say we were a little better than in previous races. We saw some interesting things in the data today and I’m sure we can have a good day moving forward. »
