Daniil Kvyat says that Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda must continue its fine progress after he set the fastest time seen in 2019 Formula 1 winter testing so far.
Kvyat became the first non-Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow driver to finish a full day of testing in top spot at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with a lap time of 1 minute 17.704 seconds and completed the second-highest distance on Wednesday with 137 laps.
The returning Russian knocked Alfa Romeo Racing‘s Kimi Räikkönen off the top of the leaderboard by just 0.058s with a fast lap on the softest C5 tyres in the last 10 minutes of running.
Räikkönen also set his best lap on C5s, but the respective fuel and energy deployment levels are not know for certain.
Kvyat said that it was important for both him and Toro Rosso to achieve a full day of trouble-free running, after he lost time on Monday by just completing a set of installation laps in the morning.
“We lacked some running on Day 1, so we definitely bounced back today,” said Kvyat.
“It was important for us to do as many laps as possible and complete the programme. We managed to do so and we even managed to squeeze in some extra kilometres, which made it a very productive day.
“The guys in the garage should be happy with the job they’ve done, we need to continue this high level of work to get as much mileage as possible and gain confidence together.”
Despite a year away from a full-time F1 race seat in 2018 to become Ferrari’s development driver, Kvyat said that he already feels comfortable in control of the STR14 and wants to complete as many laps as possible in order to further help his reacclimatisation with the team he last raced for at the 2017 United States Grand Prix.
With a number of variables at play, Kvyat warned against Toro Rosso becoming complacent with its current position and stressed the need to carry on working in a similar vein heading into the final day of the first of two winter tests.
“I’m comfortable with the car and every time I’m on track I have a better feeling of what the car will do, which is nice,” he added.
“As a team we always want to do more, so if we had the chance to do 200 laps I would take it, even if my neck probably wouldn’t enjoy it.
“Now it’s important to go on working hard, without getting caught up with where we finished on the timesheets – even if it’s quite pleasant to end up where we did.
“We need to keep focussing on the job we’re doing with the car and make sure we’re heading in the right direction.
“It’s early days, but a good start is always welcome.”
