Toyoharu Tanabe says the first test of the Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda era was a positive one for everyone involved, with the outfit completing the most laps of any of the ten teams across the four days.
Honda has made the switch to Toro Rosso in 2018 after three years with the McLaren F1 Team, their F1 technical director was particularly pleased that they were able to get the amount of running then did straight out of the box with very few problems.
Tanabe says they can take heart and a lot of data into next weeks second test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, but overall it was a positive first step for the Honda/Toro Rosso alliance.
“The fourth day of this test started with a wet track, due to overnight rain,” said Tanabe. “As the surface dried, we were able to switch to slick tyres around midday and with warmer temperatures, we were finally able to run in suitable conditions.
“By the end of the day, Pierre had completed 147 laps, making it a very productive session. In the dry, we were able to start work on finding the best settings for the PU, as well as continuing with function checks. We also completed some longer runs, which meant we could gather valuable data for race conditions.
“I am reasonably satisfied with the way Test 1 went, as we were able to complete most of our programme without having any issues. I feel we have taken a positive first step in this very important first test as Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda.
“We now have just a few days in which to further analyse our data in order to be as well prepared as possible for the final four days of winter testing.”
