Toro Rosso still seems far from the mark

Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo did not have the opportunity to showcase themselves in the first test session in Melbourne. The Frenchman only set the 17th time in the second session (1'28"968) while his teammate Daniel Ricciardo did barely better with the 14th time (1'28"627). For the French pilot, “The biggest change since winter testing comes from the higher temperatures, which means the tires performed better than in Spain. » “We still have a lot of work to do before we get closer to the teams in front of us”, continues Jean-Eric Vergne. “We're still lacking speed, but our long runs seem pretty good and the balance of the car was good. » His Australian teammate shares the same opinion on the new frame of Faenza. “In the first session it was clear that we didn't have the results we wanted in terms of balance and setup, but we made changes and that helped. I really felt progress between morning and afternoon, but it's still not enough. »

Toro Rosso is aware that if it rains tomorrow, the Italian team will have to rely more on the circumstances than on the margin of progress achievable this weekend. Jean-Eric Vergne had already distinguished himself in the rain by winning his first Grand Prix points last year at Sepang. “As our forecasts indicated, the competition is very close in the part of the grid where we find ourselves”, adds Toro Rosso chief engineer, Laurent Mekies. “Our job is not only to find the best settings for the rest of the weekend but also to progress in the season. In Melbourne, you can usually expect the unexpected. We have a chance of rain for qualifying while the race always offers surprises here. We must therefore prepare ourselves to face any circumstances. »