Alpha Tauri took advantage of their filming day allocation to give Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat an outing at Imola ahead of the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix at Red Bull Ring next weekend.
The drivers first did laps in the 2018 Toro Rosso STR13 with unrestricted laps, which enabled the drivers get back into the groove after the unprecedented lay-off.
The team reported at the end of the day, “After a long wait, yesterday we finally went back on track! It all took place at the Imola circuit, not far from our Faenza factory, in the form of a second filming day in this strange Formula 1 season.
“Training in the gym, working on the simulator, karting: all these things helped fill the time, but for a Formula 1 driver, nothing can match the feeling you get sitting in a real Formula 1 car. Three and half months after the end of winter testing in Barcelona, Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly were back behind the wheel, just over a week before the season gets underway.”
After lunch, the team tackled the actual filming day schedule in the Alpha Tauri AT01, this year’s car, ahead of a triple-header to start the season, beginning in Austria next weekend
Gasly said of his return to the cockpit, “I was really happy to be back on track after such a long wait. I had really missed that feeling you get from driving so it was incredible to be back in the STR13 and the AT01.
“We had a really smooth day, doing some laps in both cars. In the morning, I woke up feeling excited and happy and later that night, I fell asleep in the same mood. It was also special to drive a Formula 1 car at Imola, which is one of my favourite tracks. I think we are now ready for Austria,” added the Frenchman.