Hartley has ‘no complaints’ after first day in Toro Rosso Honda
Brendon Hartley got to complete 93 laps out on track in Catalunya and said he had “no issues...but...stopped early because of the weather, it was almost icy conditions out there.”
With low temperatures over the most of Europe, the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit saw rain complicate this even further. He described the circuit like an ice skating rink in places.
“I think everyone probably struggled with tyres, but doing one corner slow the tyres drop out of the window and it was almost like an ice-skating rink.”
Hartley was pleased with the data from the first day of testing & went on to say “I think we learnt a lot and set ourselves up nicely for the rest of the test.”
“The driveability of the engine is one of the best I’ve driven in a Formula 1 car, so it was really positive in all aspects. Absolutely no complaints from me.”
Indeed, earlier in the day, Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost confirmed that Honda had made strides over the winter.
“We won’t have any troubles because the power unit is working quite well,” Tost predicted. “I am convinced Honda has the capacity and the know-how to develop the engine on a level that we will be where we all expect to be and this how it is.”
“I think it’s very positive because Honda made a lot of progress in the last months, on the reliability side as well as on the performance side and we are all looking forward to this season.”
