Fresh start in Oz with two new drivers for STR
As the 2012 F1 championship gets underway, the Scuderia Toro Rosso have two new drivers on board for this season and managed a positive star to their relationships. And despite a wet Friday out on track, the two drivers were productive with their respective programmes and are looking forward to improving for tomorrow's qualification.
Jean-Eric Vergne (STR7-03):
First Practice Session
Best lap: 1:31.178. pos. 19th, 17 laps
Second Practice Session
Best lap: 1:34.485, pos. 20th, 29 laps
“My first Friday as a Formula 1 driver was a good feeling. Being the first driver out on track this morning was something special, but after that it was time to get on with all the usual work with the engineers and you forget about that side of it. This morning, we did not manage to complete all our programme, partly because of the rain. That made life difficult, but you know, it was really good fun, as I’ve never driven on rain tyres, which meant I did almost everything you could do today, in terms of trying tyres. I also did a long run, which was useful in terms of learning the circuit and there are still plenty of little details where I need to improve. But overall, I would say it was a positive first day and what I must do tomorrow is push more.”
Daniel Ricciardo (STR7-01):
First Practice Session
Best lap 1:28.908, pos. 7th, 23 laps
Second Practice Session
Best lap: 1:34.604, pos. 21st, 31 laps
“All the hype this week has made it feel as though this is my first F1 race again, but it’s not and I’ve just got to get on with things. It was a great feeling being back out on track here in Australia and I really enjoyed it. This morning went pretty well, very good even, while the afternoon was a bit mixed because of the weather. All the same, we managed to try most of the tyre compounds apart from the Option. The changing track conditions made it a bit ‘cat and mouse’: you’d go out on one tyre, then come in and wait for it to dry a bit and you had to be patient. This afternoon, I did a long run and I think we can still gain some more race pace and the good thing is I know what we have to do to achieve that. This track is very different to the two circuits where we tested this winter, but it looked positive, so I’m hoping to get a good grid position tomorrow. We’ll see what the weather does, but even if it rains, I expect there’ll be a big crowd to cheer us on.”
Laurent Mekies (Chief Engineer): “Overall this was a good day for us, with everyone happy to be racing here again. With the rain and changing conditions, it was not the ideal scenario for two young drivers to start their first race of the season and for one of them, Jean-Eric, his first real race weekend ever. But I don’t think we can complain about these conditions as it’s better to deal with them on a Friday than in the race. Daniel and Jean-Eric did a very good job to get as many laps under their belt as possible. They tried the Extreme wets, the Intermediates and the Mediums and our weekend has got off on the right foot.”
