Vergne only sees positives in Melbourne

Toro Rosso was able to benefit from good reliability on the STR9s of Jean-Éric Vergne and Daniil Kvyat during the first tests in Melbourne even if the two drivers visited the Albert Park gravel trap several times. The Faenza team's single-seaters suffered from poor braking settings. The Italian structure prefers to highlight the positive points with more than 100 laps covered on the first day. “We had a rather good start to the weekend and we were able to accumulate significant traffic”, comments Phil Carles, the chief race engineer. “Both drivers completed all procedures, completing long and short stints while making pit stops. We have clearly made progress, which is encouraging. There car looks good, now it's a matter of understanding it and working on the settings. »

Jean-Éric Vergne, however, complained several times about braking that could be improved on his Toro Rosso before the team improved the behavior of his car. In any case, the Frenchman seems satisfied with his day where he finished just outside the top ten, just over a second behind the reference time established by Lewis Hamilton. “It was a really good day where we didn't have any problems. Considering how complicated the winter testing was, I'm delighted with the way we started this weekend. This result demonstrates that we have made real progress since Bahrain. But it’s only Friday…”

The French driver must remain on his guard all the more as his new teammate Daniil Kvyat seems to quickly adapt to the demands of the F1 since the reigning GP3 Series champion was able to complete his day without making any significant errors. “It was a solid start to my first Grand Prix weekend”, adds the Toro Rosso rookie who took 16th place, almost three seconds behind the best time of the day. “We didn't focus too much on performance, but we were able to complete quite a few laps. I didn't really know what to expect from the tires, especially the soft compounds. But we have a better vision after collecting a lot of data. »

The final free practice session for the Australian Grand Prix will take place from 4 a.m. French time and can be followed live on AUTOhebdo.fr. Discover the photos of the tests on this link.