Scuderia Toro Rosso F1 Brazilian GP practices review 07.11.2014: 2014 BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX – FRIDAY 07/11/2014 Daniil Kvyat (STR9-03) First Practice Session Best lap: 1:13.723, pos. 3rd, 39 laps

2014 BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX – FRIDAY 07/11/2014



 
Daniil Kvyat (STR9-03)

First Practice Session
Best lap: 1:13.723, pos. 3rd, 39 laps

Second Practice Session
Best lap: 1:13.254, pos. 8th, 35 laps


“Mixed feelings today. In the morning we looked quite competitive, while in the afternoon our performance was not that good. The track conditions between the two sessions changed a lot, making it difficult the get the best out of the tyres.


It looks like conditions are going to be changeable this weekend, so we have to be ready for everything. The positive is that we know in which direction we have to move. We have some homework to do overnight, but I'm confident we can improve for tomorrow."
 


Max Verstappen (STR9-01)

First Practice Session
Best lap: 1:13.827, pos. 6th, 26 laps


“At the beginning the track was quite slippery, especially when you went off the racing line, so I think the tyres will be a key factor this weekend. I enjoyed today as always and this track is very nice to drive. Every time I get in the car I feel more comfortable, lap by lap I get a better understanding of its behaviour.


We have made a few changes from Austin to here, for example in the steering, which I now feel is more to my liking. This meant I could try and find the limit a bit more than in the past weekends. I’m quite satisfied with my job and I like working with this team very much.


We are starting to know each other better and they understand better what I want from the car, my driving style, and the set up becomes easier. I think I had a good practice session and it’s great to see that both our cars were very competitive.”
 


Jean-Eric Vergne (STR9-01)

Second Practice Session
Best lap: 1:17.171, pos. 17th, 5 laps


"After just a few laps in this session, I suddenly suffered a loss of power, a complete black out on the electrical side, which we will have to investigate now. Unfortunately it was not possible to get the car back to the garage to have a look and see if we could fix it in time and go out again. Not driving on Friday doesn’t help us to set up the car properly but this won’t stop me from having a good weekend.”
 


 Phil Charles (Chief Race Engineer)

“It’s been a really difficult day for the tyres, because of the very high track temperature of over 50 degrees. The long runs do not look as competitive we would like but I’m sure it’s the same for many others. This is something we have got to tackle overnight to understand what we have to do to try and address that. 


We’re very sorry for Jev. He missed FP1 this morning with Max running and then he had a problem very early this afternoon. That’s very unfortunate and it’s certainly a tricky start to the weekend for him. Nevertheless, there are some positive aspects.


Daniil’s car looks not too bad, we just need to be a bit more sympathetic with the tyres, even in the short runs, but overall we are satisfied. Max did a very good job in FP1.”
 


Ricardo Penteado (Renault Sport F1 track support leader)

“Daniil was quick in both sessions and didn’t have any problems with his car’s Power Unit, despite Interlagos being one of the toughest tracks on the calendar for the ICE. Jean-Eric was less lucky though, completing just two laps before his ERS encountered a problem.


Obviously that’s not ideal for him, but at least we can use a lot of the data from Daniil, who worked on cooling and turbo mapping – both important here due to the high temperatures and altitude – as well as energy management.
 

- Fabiana Valenti, photo Red Bull