BARCELONA TEST 01 – DAY 4

Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya

Driver: Alexander Albon – Car: STR14-02

Best time: 1:17.637– Laps: 136

Total laps completed (4 days): 482

Total kilometres completed (4 days): 2,243 km

Laps completed by AA: 268 Laps completed by DK: 214

Kilometres completed by AA: 1,247 km Kilometres completed by DK: 996 km

Alexander Albon (Car 23):

“My first two days of F1 testing completed and I really enjoyed it! We had a good day today topping the timesheets in the morning session, I know it’s still early days and we don’t know what everyone else is doing but it’s a good sign for the future. The first day began with a tricky start, but the team made me feel comfortable after that and we were able to get on with the programme. I think everything is going to plan quite well, we’ve hit our mileage target which is important for the guys back at the factory, and of course at the same time, I’m still learning the car. The grip is so high that it took a while for my head to adjust to it, it’s been a big learning curve! I’m still not fully in the rhythm yet but I think after next week I’ll be there and ready to race.”

Jody Egginton (Deputy Technical Director):

“For the final day of pre-season testing Alex was back behind the wheel and continued the work which Dany had put in during Day 3. After completion of a block of aero tests early on he moved into a general testing programme, carrying out a number of setup related test items. We then moved on to a series of new tyre runs, in order to provide Alex with a further opportunity to gain experience of how to best utilise the new tyre over a short run. This culminated in a solid performance on both the C4 and C5 compounds, which is encouraging at this point in the test programme. In the afternoon, similar to Dany on Day 3, Alex conducted a number of longer stints putting in solid times on both compounds, whilst also gaining experience of managing the tyres over extended running. Again, today we have seen Alex move along the learning curve impressively, managing both quick and consistent lap times whilst also developing the car setup to his liking together with his engineers. There is much more work to do in next week’s test, but we look forward to making further progress with the STR14.”

Franz Tost (Team Principal)

“The first pre-season test in Barcelona was a successful one for Toro Rosso. The car ran well throughout the four days and we saw good results from both the performance side and the reliability. It was the first time in the STR14 for Daniil and Alex, who both did a very good job and gave positive feedback about the car and the Honda Power Unit. There is still a lot of work in front of us to further improve the car. The team did a great job as we ended the first test with a total of 482 laps. This gave us a lot of data and we now have a long list of test items for next week to make further steps forward. The weather was very good in Barcelona this year as the wind wasn’t blowing so heavily and we reached reasonably good track temperatures, which allowed us to get some productive running – especially in the afternoon sessions. This means the test results are quite valid for the start of the season in Melbourne.”

Toyoharu Tanabe (Honda F1 Technical Director):

“For this first four-day pre-season test, working with both Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda and Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Honda, it was encouraging that we got through all our planned programme with both teams. As for today, everything went smoothly and we acquired a good amount of data. It’s the first time in the hybrid era that we are powering two teams and at this test, we learned a lot in terms of how to operate with them both. There were no major issues with the power units throughout this test. Toro Rosso has completed 482 laps over the four days and Red Bull did 475, meaning that Honda PUs ran a total of 957 laps. We will now spend the next few days analysing all the data we have acquired here, in order to move forward with development in the final four days of testing next week prior to the first race in Australia.”