TOROSSO AUSTRALIAN GP – FREE PRACTICE

After the first practice sessions of 2018, read what Brendon, Pierre and the team’s thoughts from Melbourne, Australia.

Brendon Hartley (STR13-03, Car 28)
First Practice Session
Best lap: 1:27.745, pos. 18th, 16 laps
Second Practice Session
Best lap: 1:25.925, pos. 16th, 41 laps
“We missed a little bit of track time this morning in FP1 but we made up for the lost time with a good second session. Managing tyres is going to be a big topic for all the teams but we got some good data on both the long and the short runs. It looks like we’re in the battle with the midfield, but there’s still a bit to improve before qualifying tomorrow.”

Pierre Gasly (STR13-04, Car 10)
First Practice Session
Best lap: 1:26.494, pos. 11th, 25 laps
Second Practice Session
Best lap: 1:25.945, pos. 17th, 39 laps
“The first Friday of the year… it felt good to be back in the car to start the season properly! We tested many things for Qualifying and the Race but we still don’t really know what the weather will be like both tomorrow and on Sunday – it looks like it might rain. Let’s see how it goes, at least we did many tests and now we need to analyze the positives and negatives from today. I think tomorrow is going to be tight in the midfield, so we really need to put everything together – it can make a big difference on the starting grid.”

Jonathan Eddolls (Chief Race Engineer):
“It was a very productive day, FP2 more so, and we managed to cover a lot of laps and our full programme. In FP1, with Pierre, we managed to cover our full test plan quite successfully, but with Brendon, a few operational issues meant that we lost some track time which obviously isn’t ideal with him trying to learn the circuit, especially the first race of the season, in a new car. Fortunately, he recovered well in FP2. I think the big thing for us is understanding the tyres, as we seem to be suffering quite heavily with tyre overheating, especially in the last sector – it’s something we certainly need to work on. The weather forecast isn’t looking great tomorrow, so maybe the tyre problems are not such a big issue for qualifying, but obviously, we need to understand it for the future. In the background, we were covering lots of mechanical tests and we’ve been working a lot for the race so we’ve got an awful lot of data gathered that we need to go through tonight in preparation for Sunday – we have to see what the weather brings tomorrow.”

Toyoharu Tanabe (Honda F1 Technical Director):

“At last, the 2018 season has begun. Thanks to the enthusiasm of the Australian fans, which I last experienced here ten years ago, there was a good atmosphere for the first day of practice.Overall, things went smoothly today, with practice held in perfect weather. As this was the first time that both our drivers have driven this track, our target was to let them get in as many laps as possible. On the Power Unit front, we concentrated on adjusting the drivability and the energy and fuel management, to suit the characteristics of the track. We were able to complete almost all our programme and it has been a good preparation for tomorrow.However, the forecast for tomorrow is very different, with rain and cooler temperatures expected. This means that during FP3 we will have to focus on finding the best settings for qualifying.”