Toro Rosso Monaco GP Thursday Practice Report

Circuit de Monaco

2011 MONACO GRAND PRIX – THURSDAY 26/05/11

Sebastien Buemi (STR6-04)

“This is a great circuit with a fantastic atmosphere so I always love driving here, even though it is very demanding. This year, they have resurfaced most of the track and it’s nearly not a street circuit anymore, with a really good asphalt. Technically, this has been a positive first day and we have an extra day to analyse all the data, which will be very useful.

Sebastien Buemi, Scuderia Toro Rosso

Photo by: xpb.cc

We got a good picture of tyre behaviour, with the Super Soft appearing to be much quicker, which will be useful in qualifying, but also in the race, because the high level of degradation we had expected to see with this tyre did not actually happen today. Right at the end of the second session, I clipped the barrier at Tabac with the rear of the car, doing some damage to the rear suspension and therefore I had to pit.”

FP1: Best lap 1.19.234, pos. 12th, 24 laps
FP2: Best lap 1.17.581, pos. 14th, 32 laps

Daniel Ricciardo (STR6-01)

“I went through the basics this morning, looking at things like ride height and aero level on the car, gathering data to help the team.

Daniel Ricciardo Test Driver, Scuderia Toro Rosso

Photo by: xpb.cc

We had a detailed look at the KERS, working out the best way to use it at this track. Before driving the F1 car, I had a practice session for the World Series. That was a good experience, because not many drivers get to drive two sessions in a morning, in beautiful race cars in Monaco! Your first time driving Monaco in a Formula 1 car is always going to be difficult so it was good to go out in the other car and see the track again for the first time since last year. Driving a Formula 1 car round here is really crazy and a lot of fun.”

FP1: Best lap 1.19.463, pos. 14th, 25 laps

Jaime Alguersuari (STR6-01)

“I enjoy the challenge of this street circuit. It was a useful afternoon’s testing for me that highlighted many things we need to look at in detail now. I am not so sure about the situation regarding tyre degradation: my initial reaction is that the long runs looked reasonable. At the moment, the main thing I need is to get a bit more confidence in the car. Since Spain, I have not had a good feeling from the brakes and I am losing the rear end of the car a lot, so we need to work on that aspect. I am sure we can sort it out, because we know what we need to do and how to do it.”