Barcelona testing – It was a day to forget for the Toro Rosso team after a problem with their Renault power unit kept the car in the garage for the majority of the final test day.
Daniil Kvyat was at the wheel of the Toro Rosso STR12 for an installation lap at the start of the morning session.
However, the team spotted an issue with the power unit, which required a replacing. Despite hopes of being able to run in the afternoon, Carlos Sainz was unable to be sent out on track.
Technical director James Key avoided going into detail about the failure, but lamented the lack of running on the final test day.
“Unfortunately Daniil only did an out/in lap this morning. We then suffered an engine related stoppage which lasted for the rest of the day,” confirmed Key.
“The week has been both encouraging but also frustrating with the missed running time. However we will now plan our recovery for next week and hope to make up for lost ground!”
Team Principal Franz Tost was disappointed to miss out on valuable test data on the final day:
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t complete our programme because of some reliability issues. Therefore, we are missing some data, especially regarding the softer tyres.
“Having said that, when the car has been out on track we’ve got a very promising feedback, so we just need to keep working hard with our partner to sort out all the reliability issues.
“All in all, it’s been a bit of a bumpy ride to begin with, but we are confident that we will get everything under control next week during the second test in order to be ready for the first race of the season in Australia.”
