Friday: Toro Rosso tries a lot, but doesn’t improve

The Scuderia Toro Rosso came to Germany with new parts, the ones Red Bull Racing had some time ago in Spain. The team was set to test several new features, both aerodynamic and technical, with a more refined chassis and revamped brakes, as well as the suspensions.

The drivers focused on validating these new parts, but neither Buemi nor Bourdais were able to break records with their current car. The STR4 is slow and doesn’t want to improve. However, the drivers are satisfied with their day but would like to see rain become a factor for success.

Sébastien Buemi – 17th and 18th:

« Even if the times don’t really show it, we did a great job of preparation today. At the end of this first day, we tried everything we wanted and we now know how the car reacts and what it will do and why. »

« Depending on tomorrow’s weather, rain or dry, we will adopt different strategies for assessing our equipment to be as competitive as possible. We lost a bit of time because of the rain today, but it didn’t affect our program too much. Therefore, we can be happy with the work done and the result obtained. However, I hope the rain will come so we can be more competitive. »

Sébastien Bourdais – 16th and 19th:

« The main challenge of the day was the low temperatures, which meant the tires had little grip. We made several setup changes, including the ride height at the front and rear, but I think we weren’t heading in the right direction. So, I struggled, and the wind made things complicated during braking with strong tail gusts at the chicane, making it difficult to slow down the car. Seb [Buemi] and I tried different setups, but it seems they all resulted in the same lap times. »