Toro Rosso report from day two of the second preseason test at Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona, ahead of the 2018 Formula 1 World Championship.
- Driver: Brendon Hartley – Car: STR13-03
- Best time: 1:19.823- Laps: 119
Brendon Hartley: “Today was a really good day, we had just some little issues in the afternoon which cost us a little bit of time, but we made up for it in the end with a couple of long runs on high fuel. I’m getting to know the STR13 more and more – I hadn’t driven since day one of the first test – so that was a really productive day for me and it was nice to see how the car has progressed. Everything has been quite reliable so far, we had a couple of hiccups the last two days which have been resolved and all understood, so overall it’s been very good. We tried some different setups this morning which made the car quite tricky to drive, but I’m happy to have a couple of spins in testing …it’s better to have them here than in the race! In the afternoon I was really comfortable with the car and the long runs, and satisfied to bang in a reasonable time in the end.”
James Key, Technical Director: “It was an interesting day today, the first time really in the two tests that we’ve put some of the larger test items on the STR13; some of them mechanical and some aerodynamic. We had a bit of a stop/start morning with various stoppages and minor issues which meant we couldn’t really get a consistent set of runs together, which was important for Brendon given that he’s only really done one day so far here in Barcelona after the weather conditions last week. This afternoon we managed to get a reasonable amount covered in quite a short space of time towards the end of the day which proved to be productive. He did a good consistent set of laps on race stint running and then trying the softer compounds for short runs at the end, which was good preparation for later in the week. We’ve learned quite a bit from test items we had which has been important for decisions on future development directions and some more immediate steps that we want to follow up. Once again the engine has been very reliable and consistent all day so that’s another continuing positive for the power unit side and Honda’s progress. Overall, I think it was a productive and very busy day and hopefully we can continue that in the final two days of the test.”
Toyoharu Tanabe, Honda F1 Technical Director: “Once again today, the weather did not disappoint, with clear skies and warm temperatures ideal for testing. Brendon, who did not get much running time during Test 1, because of bad weather, was driving. We continued the programme from yesterday both on the chassis and PU side, focusing on actual race work. This was a positive day as we managed to complete 119 laps. There was one small issue during the session, but the team worked effectively to immediately identify the cause, deal with it and send Brendon back out on track with the minimum of time lost. After six days of testing, some of it affected by bad weather, I’m happy that the collaboration of Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda is working well together as one team. We hope to maintain that momentum and make further steps forward over the remaining two days.”