Daniil Kvyat says there is “still a lot to discover” as he received his first taste of Toro Rosso’s newly-liveried STR12 during the second day of Formula 1 pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Kvyat took over driving duties from Carlos Sainz Jr. and racked up 68 laps, two more than a Grand Prix distance, to place sixth overall, with his best time set on the Soft tyres.
The Russian was encouraged by his initial feeling with the STR12, but is hopeful that further mileage can be achieved across the remainder of the test, which runs until Thursday.
“It was quite a good day, the first time with a new car,” said Kvyat.
“Obviously [there’s] lots to discover, we ticked some boxes, but [there’s] still a lot to discover, there's some progress to be made in terms of how quickly we can turn things around and go [back] on track again and make more laps.
“So we need to start doing more laps but I think in terms of first couple of days, I think we’ve done a decent amount [of running].”
Kvyat was encouraged by the preliminary reliability from Renault’s power unit, with Toro Rosso having returned to using the manufacturer’s products, but believes it is too early to draw meaningful conclusions from the opening couple of days.
“So far it’s not too bad, a bit hard to compare at the moment,” he commented on the power unit.
“I think everyone is running a bit different set-ups on the engine so I don’t know exactly what everyone else is [doing].
“It seems okay, [we] have been running, it seems good for now, but [we] soon will focus on performance and that’s when we need to see the step from Renault.”
Toro Rosso has not yet determined its driver schedule for Wednesday's running.
