Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda Deputy Technical Director Jody Egginton was encouraged by both Daniil Kyvat and Alex Albon’s driving in the first pre-season test in Barcelona.
Returning Toro Rosso driver Kyvat completed an impressive 214 laps over the four-day test, while Formula 1 newcomer Albon put in an invaluable 268 laps for the Italian team.
Russian driver Kyvat, 24, set the third fastest time of testing with a 1:17:704 but F1 debutant Albon went even faster and slotted into second fastest with a 1:17:637.
Deputy Technical Director Egginton was pleased with the STR14’s performance on the harder compound of tyres, as well as being thrilled with the driver’s lap times.
He said: “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.”
Egginton reserved special praise for British-born Thai rookie Albon, who was due to race in ABB FIA Formula E Championship this season before being snapped up by Toro Rosso.
Albon clinched a third place finish in the FIA Formula 2 Championship last season and, after showing lightning-fast pace in the STR14, Egginton is excited by his potential.
He added: “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.”
