Daniil Kvyat feels there is still a lot of time to be found in his Scuderia Toro Rosso after failing to match the kind of lap times set by team-mate Alexander Albon during Thursday afternoon’s practice session at the Circuit de Monaco.
Whereas Albon was inside the top five thanks to his lap of 1:12.031, Kvyat’s best time of the day was a 1:12.577, with the half a second difference between the duo enough to put the Russian down in fourteenth position.
Despite feeling good with the STR14 throughout the day and running through the planned programme, Kvyat feels there is still work to be done to understand where they can improve so that they can be a genuine top ten contender come Saturday’s Qualifying session at the principality.
“I think from my side today was quite good,” said Kvyat, who has scored points in two of the first five races of the season since his return to Toro Rosso. “We completed everything we had planned for the day, but I think there’s still something missing and there’s quite a bit of time left to find.
“We will work hard to understand what we can do to improve so we’re in the fight for Saturday.”
Chief Race Engineer Jonathan Eddolls feels the STR14 does look to be competitive this weekend in Monaco but it will be up to the team to give Kvyat the confidence in the car so to have a strong Qualifying.
“The car is looking competitive here, as demonstrated by Alex, but there is work to do by the engineers tonight and tomorrow to give Daniil a car that suits him on Saturday,” said Eddolls. “We are confident we will be able to make improvements and challenge in Qualifying!”
Eddolls says the team’s overall performance throughout Thursday’s running in the principality was a success, with the main objective to give both Kvyat and Albon the opportunity to turn a good number of laps to give them the confidence they will need for the rest of the weekend.
“Overall, the team had a successful Thursday in Monte Carlo, given it was the first time here for Alex in F1 and with Daniil missing 2018,” said Eddolls. “One of the main objectives was to give the drivers as many laps as possible with a consistent car to build up the pace and their confidence, which is key to a quick lap here.
“Both drivers got up to speed very quickly in FP1 on the Option tyre and the STR14 was looking competitive, even though the general grip was low and the balance not perfect.”
