Kvyat beaches Toro Rosso on F1 test debut
Toro Rosso completed more tyre testing for Pirelli with Jean-Eric Vergne, slightly hampered by a car issue in the morning. This also reduced the runninng chances for Daniil Kvyat who enjoyed his first run in a Formula One car.
Jean-Eric Vergne, STR8-01, 42 laps, 1:33.647: “It’s always good to get extra cockpit time, putting in some miles on new tyres, so from that point of view it was productive. As for the new Pirelli tyres, they behaved well over the three days, as indeed we had expected, with none of the problems myself and others experienced at this track, during the British Grand Prix. That is a positive thing for the rest of the season.”
Daniil Kvyat, STR8-01, 22 laps, 1:35.281: “I want to thank Red Bull and Scuderia Toro Rosso for giving me this opportunity to drive a Formula 1 car for the first time. It was a really nice feeling, with all that downforce and power. The more laps you do, the more you get used to it and on my last run, I was already trying to push and find the limits. Unfortunately, we lost some time when I made a mistake and ran into the gravel. I’m not sure what happened, I just felt a lack of grip at the rear from the tyres and had snap oversteer.”
Laurent Mekies: “Overall, this has been a positive test for Scuderia Toro Rosso and we completed a total of almost 1,350 kilometres. We ran our two races drivers and three young drivers over the three days, working on the new Pirelli tyres with the former and on car development with the latter. By the end of the test, we have a reasonably high percentage of answers on both these topics. The tyres worked well, but we are aware that you cannot get all the information you need at just one circuit and with the same track conditions throughout. While the first two days went off very smoothly, today was rather more hectic. We lost track time with a car issue in the morning, however by extending Jean-Eric’s running into the afternoon, we were able to complete our tyre programme with him. That meant Daniil’s time at the wheel of the STR8 was reduced. He lost more time, after going off in the gravel and even if the car was not really damaged, it took a long time to clean out, but he managed one final run before the flag.”
