Friday – Toro Rosso is not performing

Toro Rosso has benefited from Adrian Newey and Red Bull’s development for its new single-seater. Immediately placed in the right group, the team has experienced more difficulties today with a car lacking experience.

The small Scuderia is trying to make up for its delay in private testing against its rivals, at the expense of performance. Bourdais and Buemi are therefore paying the price for now and settle for the bottom of the time sheets. Nevertheless, both men are satisfied with their day in Australia.

Sébastien Bourdais – 19th and 16th:

The day went smoothly, which is a good thing because we were able to work well despite knowing that we wouldn’t be fast enough here as we’re missing some development parts. At this stage of the season, it always makes a difference. Except for a slight oversteer at high speed, I’m quite satisfied with the car’s balance on super-soft tires. Overall, it’s not too bad, and we will do our best even though I fear we might struggle to qualify for Q2 tomorrow.

Sebastien Buemi – 15th and 20th:

« Today was my first official free practice session in F1 and I had a lot of new things to learn and process. Overall, it wasn’t bad. We tried different setups for the race and we were able to improve the car lap by lap. The second session also started well but we then struggled with the balance. »

« Given our lack of private testing with this car, we conducted this day somewhat like an additional test session. I also have to get used to this new circuit for me. There is still much to do. »