Friday: The Toro Rosso seems to perform well in the rain
Daniil Kvyat drove this morning in place of Ricciardo, and the Russian driver was delighted with the experience even though it was rainy. Jean-Eric Vergne struggled this morning due to a problem with his car, but he made up for it in the afternoon. As for Daniel Ricciardo, he believes that missing a practice session wasn't too damaging thanks to the rain.
Jean-Eric Vergne – 14th and 6th:
Usually, I am comfortable in the rain, but this morning, the car wasn’t going well, so in a way, I was pleased to learn that the team found something that wasn’t right and it was fixed in time for this afternoon, where everything went much better. Considering my time with rather worn intermediates, I think we are in good shape. I waited a long time before going out, because with the few sets of rain tires, you have to save them for the rest of the weekend. So it was a normal Friday in many ways, except for not covering many laps, which is a shame on such a pleasant circuit to drive. We have work to do to further improve the car, but we have a good starting point.
Daniil Kvyat – 8th [Free Practice 1]:
« It was a very positive experience today, driving in the rain. I managed a good time that was enough to be 8th. Towards the end, we had to limit my track time; a few more laps would have been ideal because we needed to save tires for the upcoming sessions. I drove with intermediates and, in a way, it’s a bit of a shame it didn’t rain more, as I could have also tried the wet tires. It’s really a nice and technical circuit, and it seemed well griped today, which is good because it was my first time driving an F1 single-seater in the rain. Overall, with this morning, and last week in Austin and the prior testing, I now have confidence in the car. I’ve gotten used to the power, and I’m getting accustomed to the downforce and brakes as well. »
Daniel Ricciardo – 9th [Free Practice 2]:
« I don’t think that having only one session today really handicapped me, even if it rained for less than 90 minutes due to the weather. I did a couple of stints, one with wet tires and another on intermediates. It was still productive despite the limited track time. As always, we have work to do, but I don’t think we’re that bad in these conditions. We need to improve rear grip to stabilize the car on the wet. If we can sort that out tonight, we’ll have a good car for the rain, and I’m confident that if things remain as they are, we can get both of our cars into Q3 tomorrow. »
