Mixed fortunes for Toro Rosso

It was a day of mixed fortunes for the Scuderia Toro Rosso. Sebastien Bourdais felt very satisfied after the two Friday practice sessions, but Sebastian Vettel complained of lack of grip. The team will try to improve for tomorrow's qualifying session.

Sebastien Bourdais: "I got into a good groove this morning with no real problems and we carried on the same way this afternoon. It meant I got quite a bit of running done which is a "first" for a Friday this season for me. So, I'm happy about that. This is my first time at this track and I think it's quite nice, although the three slow corners are extremely slow and that does not seem to suit these cars. The track surface was actually in pretty good shape compared to what I had been expecting in terms of dirt and sand. They cleaned it very well and since the wind died down it greatly helped the situation. The wind is supposed to pick up again for tomorrow and Sunday so it could be a bit of an adventure into the unknown every time we go out."

First Practice Session
Best lap 1.34.235, pos. 15th, 27 laps
Second Practice Session
Best lap 1.33.197, pos. 9th, 37 lap

Sebastian Vettel: "It was a tough day. On a track that does not see much running during the year, there is never much grip at first. I found it extremely difficult to drive in the morning and while the afternoon was a bit better, we are still a long way off where we want to be. To sum it up, we lacked grip and were too slow. Honestly, I am not sure which way to go to improve, but I am sure the situation will change after we study all the data before starting again tomorrow morning."

First Practice Session
Best lap 1.34.321, pos. 16th, 32 laps
Second Practice Session
Best lap 1.34.787, pos. 20th, 30 laps