Toro Rosso Monza test summary 2006-08-29/31

If you work in Formula 1, it helps if you like Monza, because after testing there in June, prior to the North American races, all the teams have returned to the lovely surroundings of the Royal Park of Monza this week and next week, yes that's right, we are all going back there for the small matter of the Italian Grand Prix, that brings to a close the European part of this year's World Championship.

Scuderia Toro Rosso used all three of its drivers this week, with tester Neel Jani running on Tuesday, Tonio Liuzzi running Wednesday morning before handing the car over to Scott Speed, while today, both race drivers had a car each.

Inevitably, the main focus of the day was on tyre choice for the 15th round of the World Championship, with drivers testing different compounds and constructions. There was one important surprise in store in that, since the previous visit to Monza in June, several sections of the track had been resurfaced, offering different levels of grip. This high speed track demands a unique low downforce package and with this in mind, the team tested two new rear wing configurations.

"The drivers all did a good job, delivering a fault free performance, which is why we managed to cover in excess of 2000 kilometres," said Chief Engineer Laurent Mekies. "So we have plenty of data to study and all will now depend on what conditions we find here when we return for the race in one week's time."

Tonio Liuzzi
Best lap: 1:23.108
Laps completed: 88 (all day STR1-03)

Scott Speed
Best lap: 1:23.714
Laps completed: 86 (all day STR1-05)

-credit: toro rosso