Toro Rosso drivers struggling with new STR3

The Scuderia Toro Rosso's new car, the STR3, has finally made his Grand Prix weekend debut today. Sébastien Bourdais and Sebastian Vettel were however struggling and both men expected to be in better shape. The team hopes to be able to turn things around before the qualifying session on Saturday.

Sébastien Bourdais: "This morning when I woke up, I thought, 'this is it, I'm finally going to drive Monaco in an F1 car!' It was a case of finding out about the new car which was always going to be difficult on this demanding track. We always ran with a heavy fuel load so we should not read anything into the lap times. We are not where we want to be but I don't think we are as far behind as it might look. However, I was expecting us to be in slightly better shape than this, which means Saturday and Sunday are going to be interesting. We are lacking a bit of grip, maybe because we lack a little downforce in this maximum downforce set-up, which our top speeds would also suggest. At least my past experience here has been a help and this morning I got into a rhythm quite quickly."
First Practice Session
Best lap 1.18.245, pos. 13th, 30 laps
Second Practice Session
Best lap 1.17.581, pos. 18th, 38 laps

Sebastian Vettel: "Certainly not the best first two sessions of a race weekend. It is the first time we have had the new car at a race, so it was always going to be difficult to know what to expect and I seemed to struggle a lot. I was fighting with the car on a circuit that I have always liked in the past. I have nothing against street circuits; quite the opposite in fact. We were struggling to find the right direction to go in, but by the end of the second session we made a step forward but it is not yet enough."
First Practice Session
Best lap 1.19.176, pos. 19th, 35 laps
Second Practice Session Best lap 1.18.225, pos. 20th, 38 laps