Friday: Satisfaction at Toro Rosso
The Toro Rosso drivers were satisfied after the first day of free practice at the 2014 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. Without chasing performance, Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniil Kvyat could observe the improvement of the car and hope that the groundwork for a good performance has been laid.
Jean-Eric Vergne (No. 25) – 10th and 11th
Despite apparent braking issues, with a car often in trouble, the Frenchman believes the day was positive: « It was a really good day today, with no problems at all. Given how difficult the winter tests were for us, I’m really happy with how we started this weekend. »
The work done between the end of the tests and the beginning of this weekend seems to have paid off: « Everyone on the team has worked very hard in the past weeks and we never lost our focus. The result is that we have made real progress since the last test in Bahrain. »
However, everything remains to be done: « But it’s only Friday, so we have to work hard tonight, look at the data we have collected. »
Daniil Kvyat (No. 26) – 13th and 16th
For his first weekend as a Grand Prix driver, the young Russian mainly sought to familiarize himself with the car and the tires without chasing performance: « It was, obviously, a solid start for my first Grand Prix weekend. We are not too focused on performance but we managed to complete enough laps, which was really important. I wasn’t too sure what to expect from the tires, especially the soft ones. »
This first day allowed him to better understand the car and to lay the groundwork for being at his best on Saturday and Sunday: « But we collected a lot of information and we truly have a better overall vision. There is much to discuss with the engineers tonight. I hope we can put everything together and be strong for the rest of the weekend. »
