Toro Rosso, Verstappen: “We always continue to learn something new from the car”

Another excellent day for Scuderia Toro Rosso on the Barcelona track. Despite some small problems during the morning session, in fact, Max Verstappen managed to complete the work program planned for this last day of testing in Spain as best as possible, concluding this first shakedown on the new STR11 in the best possible way. Lots of laps for the Dutchman who, like Carlos Sainz yesterday, managed to best test the reliability of the Ferrari power unit.

Here are the words of James Key: “We can be quite proud of the many kilometers covered during this first test, because we came here without really knowing what to expect. There were so many unknowns, having a new power unit fitted to a completely new STR11. But I think the whole team worked well, completing four days of really productive testing. I believe that most of the objectives have been achieved. Equally important: we wanted to verify that the car performed as we hoped, especially considering the installation of the new power unit and the complicated mechanical systems. It was exactly like that and we are very satisfied with it. The pilots did a great job. Carlos covered 161 laps in one day: that's a lot of kilometers and I think he did well."

“Max did 110 laps today so, in general, we were able to test our reliability, a critical factor with only two test sessions before the start of the season” he continued. “The collaboration with Ferrari has been really easy and smooth: we have worked very well together over the last four days and I would like to thank them for providing us with everything on time. We have had the opportunity to verify many aspects regarding the reliability of the car, but we have only just begun to understand its behaviour. So now we will have to work much more on performance, testing it as best we can also thanks to new updated parts, which we will bring next week."

Here are Max Verstappen's impressions: “Today was another great day: we did quite a few laps, especially in the morning. We continue to learn something new from the car and I think everything has gone positively: the car performs well, we can be happy. This first test certainly made me become familiar with the single-seater. It was important to shoot as much as possible and we certainly achieved this! I can't wait for the next test, where we will continue to work hard."

Roberto Valenti