Getting into Q3 will be “extremely difficult” for Toro Rosso, according to Carlos Sainz, but he still believes there’s more to come from the STR12 than what we have seen in testing.
Reliability problems disturbed Toro Rosso’s running throughout the two weeks’ testing, meaning it completed less laps than any team other than McLaren.
The team was also last in the lap times during the first test and, though they did see an improvement in the second test, Sainz believes the team will start 2017 on the back foot compared to other midfield teams.
“I honestly think that the others have done also massive steps – Force India, Haas, Renault in particular, compared to last year,” Sainz told motorsport.com. “Williams is flying.
“So it is going to be a very, very tight fight for P5 in the championship, or to be the fifth-fastest car in Melbourne – so to get into Q3 will be extremely difficult.”
Toro Rosso ended testing on something close to a high. Though mechanical problems plagued the team until the very end – with Sainz stopping on track in the closing moments of Friday’s session – both drivers managed to run race simulations and Sainz managed to set the team’s fastest lap of the test, putting himself seventh in the pecking order.
The last two days boosted Toro Rosso’s confidence, but Sainz thinks there’s more work to be done.
“Thanks to this last day [of testing] I think the team can be a bit more optimistic and more positive.
“We still have a lot less laps than our rivals and there’s much more potential to unlock from the car. We’ll make up for that during the season.”
In terms of lap numbers, Toro Rosso did complete less laps than any other Renault powered car – though all three Renault powered teams did face mechanical problems over the eight days of testing. Toro Rosso wasn’t too far behind Renault, though, completing only 13 fewer laps than the works team.
