Practice report
Formula 1
Toro Rosso drivers quotes after Friday practice at Sepang
Drivers were looking for long runs experience and not quick lap times
Published: Mar 22, 2013, 10:26 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Jean-Eric Vergne (STR8-03)
First Practice Session
Best lap: 1:39.284, pos. 17th, 17 laps
Second Practice Session
Best lap: 1:38.738, pos. 15th, 31 laps
“I think this was a positive day, including the reliability front which is important. We concentrated on our long run work and we got some good answers from that, which is the most important thing, rather than looking for quick lap times. Consistent times over a distance are more important. For tomorrow, we can now look at finding more pace. Tyre degradation is quite high, but we expected that and it’s the same for everybody. If it’s dry for the whole race, tyre management will be quite tricky. I didn’t learn much on the Inters, except that driving the car in the wet on a heavy fuel load is difficult! The heat? I’m fine with it.”
Daniel Ricciardo, Scuderia Toro Rosso STR8
Photo by: XPB Images
Daniel Ricciardo (STR8-01)
First Practice Session
Best lap: 1:39.567, pos. 18th, 16 laps
Second Practice Session
Best lap: 1:38.904, pos. 17th, 31 laps
“We learned a lot about the tyres today. In the morning, they seemed to struggle in the heat and we made some changes to help deal with that in between the two sessions. We managed to improve the balance of the car to prolong tyre life and I think we succeeded to a certain extent in doing that. We still have more work to do on that. The heat doesn’t affect the brakes much as there’s time to cool them down, but you have to watch the engine temps and also the body temperatures, because looking in the garage the guys seemed to have just come out of the shower! This is a more physical race than others and it is definitely warm, but having come here a few times, I’m prepared for it and enjoying it.”
Laurent Mekies (Head of Vehicle Performance): “It was a constructive day, as we got through a lot of laps with both cars in all sorts of track conditions, so that Daniel and Jean-Eric ran three types of tyre – the Hard, Medium and Intermediates. That was useful, because past experience tells us we have to be prepared for anything in qualifying and the race. Once again, this weekend is going to be all about tyre management, so we are working hard on getting the most out of the compounds we have here. We have explored different directions in terms of set-up across both cars, so overall, we got the data we wanted. Now we must work on that tonight with the aim of getting as much performance as possible out of our package.”
Scuderia Toro Rosso
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Raikkonen sets the pace during Friday practice in Malaysia
Next article Marussia F1 completes practice at Sepang
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Daniel Ricciardo
Why Daniel Ricciardo is staying away from the F1 paddock
Formula 1
Formula 1
Why Daniel Ricciardo is staying away from the F1 paddock
Why Daniel Ricciardo would consider a comeback at Le Mans
WEC
WEC
Why Daniel Ricciardo would consider a comeback at Le Mans
Does Daniel Ricciardo regret leaving Red Bull for Renault?
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
Does Daniel Ricciardo regret leaving Red Bull for Renault?
More from
Racing Bulls
Liam Lawson rues Brazilian GP qualifying mistake despite third-place grid start
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
Liam Lawson rues Brazilian GP qualifying mistake despite third-place grid start
Racing Bulls promises "right decision" as Liam Lawson's F1 future remains in doubt
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
Racing Bulls promises "right decision" as Liam Lawson's F1 future remains in doubt
Latest news
Kyle Larson, Cliff Daniels and the Hendrick 5 are who we say they are
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
1 h
Kyle Larson, Cliff Daniels and the Hendrick 5 are who we say they are
Final NASCAR Cup points standings after 2026 Homestead finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
5 h
Final NASCAR Cup points standings after 2026 Homestead finale
Official race results: NASCAR Cup Homestead season finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
6 h
Official race results: NASCAR Cup Homestead season finale
Ryan Blaney wins Homestead NASCAR Cup finale as Kyle Larson claims 2026 title
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
6 h
Ryan Blaney wins Homestead NASCAR Cup finale as Kyle Larson claims 2026 title
Feature
Discover prime content
How F1’s rules got to be so complex
Formula 1
By Pat Symonds
How F1’s rules got to be so complex
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe