Signs of progress for Toro Rosso

Although the Scuderia Toro Rosso showed signs of progress since the North American campaign, it was rather disappointing qualifying session for the team. Scott Speed will start tomorrow's French Grand Prix from 15th position while team mate Tonio Liuzzi will start from 17th position.

Scott Speed (STR2-04)
"I was definitely not expecting to repeat yesterday's performance. We like to keep our feet on the ground here at Toro Rosso! I had a good run in Q1 and then the track conditions started to be a bit more difficult for our car as it got more rubbered in. We struggled a lot with the front end, trying to get the front to grip in the slow speed corners and that problem was worse in Q2. The car balance in the high speed corners is good and quite driveable and it is easy to
produce a consistent performance with what I think should be a good race car."
Third Practice Session, Best lap 1.16.161, pos. 18th, 18 laps
Qualifying Session, 1.16.049, pos. 15th

Tonio Liuzzi (STR2-03)
"The main problem I had today was traffic and I had been hoping to be much higher up the order. We didn't get the right slot and paid the consequences. There was a big mess in the pit lane as our neighbours were coming in and out of their garage, causing a traffic jam. But my main problem was the Spyker ahead of me on the track that made a mistake a cost me a lot of time. I was three and a half tenths up on my first run time but I lost the chance of going into Q2 because of that."
Third Practice Session, Best lap 1.15.872, pos. 11th, 22 laps
Qualifying Session, 1.16.142, pos. 17th

Giorgio Ascanelli: "The cars ran okay today and were well balanced but with twelve cars within three tenths of a second, it does not take much to make the difference between the top of that group and the bottom of it. However, maybe there are signs of some progress since North America."