Ricciardo adds 131 laps on STR7 tally
Precisely one hundred laps more than Toro Rosso did yesterday: proof enough that this was a more than satisfactory day’s testing for the team and for Daniel Ricciardo, back in the cockpit of the STR7, having taken over from Jean-Eric Vergne who ran the first two days.
The Australian had a varied day at the wheel, evaluating some aero developments in the morning, before tackling a full race simulation in the afternoon. With other teams on a similar programme there was a bit of a race buzz going on at the Catalunya circuit. Adding to the interest, the rain arrived unexpectedly in the afternoon, which gave our Australian driver the chance to experience the condition changes from dry to wet and back again, which will be a useful experience for the coming season. In addition, the team practiced pit stops for the final time before Melbourne, as they are not part of the programme tomorrow, the final day of testing, when Daniel will be driving once again.
Daniel Ricciardo: “A good day with my highest number of kilometres of the season, which is perfect preparation for Melbourne. I enjoyed the race simulation and we treated it like a real race when the rain came, with my engineer asking me on the radio to make the call about when to come in for tyres and which ones to fit. So it was good to have to make decisions and also to experience Pirelli’s intermediates and rain tyres.”
Car: STR7 – 03
Laps: 131
Best time: 1:22.155
