Daniel Ricciardo was upbeat about the new Toro Rosso after the first day of Formula 1 winter testing in Jerez on Tuesday. The Australian, who makes the move from HRT, lost one hour due to technical problems but still ended his day in the top five.
“It was really nice to be back in the cockpit for the first time since the Brazilian Grand Prix in November and being the first person to drive the STR7 was a little bonus,” Ricciardo smiled. “It was great to experience taking a completely new car out of the garage. We had a very productive morning, doing over 40 laps and we made good progress with our programme.
“In the afternoon we did a couple of longer runs but had to cut it short, although we only lost an hour. I was using the Medium tyre on that last run, having used Hard tyres for the rest of the day. So, overall, a good start and I’m looking forward to another productive day tomorrow because this car is very enjoyable to drive.
“It was a good feeling going fast again. It’s too early to give a true assessment of the car, but out of the box this morning it seemed balanced and quite stable. It gave me a good feeling when I put the power down.”
On Monday in Jerez, team Technical Director Giorgio Ascanelli admitted that the Italian squad formerly known as Minardi can still be more aggressive with its car design.
Series
Formula 1
Personalities
Daniel Ricciardo
Teams
Scuderia Toro Rosso
Other
Get your official Formula 1 tickets at Sportstadium.com
| Pos. | Driver | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  K. Raikkonen | 01:19.670 | 75 |
| 2. | P. di Resta | 01:19.772 | 101 |
| 3. | N. Rosberg | 01:20.219 | 56 |
| 4. | M. Webber | 01:20.496 | 54 |
| 5. | D. Ricciardo | 01:20.694 | 57 |
| 6. | M. Schumacher | 01:20.794 | 42 |
| 7. | K. Kobayashi | 01:21.353 | 106 |
| 8. | J. Button | 01:21.530 | 62 |
| 9. | F. Massa | 01:22.815 | 69 |
| 10. | H. Kovalainen | 01:23.178 | 28 |
| Full results | |||
| Daniel Ricciardo | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |
| More Daniel Ricciardo photos | |||
English
Nederlands
Español
Italiano
