Hartley: Toro Rosso starting to unlock car's potential
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Brendon Hartley believes that Toro Rosso is starting to truly unlock the potential of its STR13 Formula 1 car after the team ran in the thick of the mifeld fight throughout the Monaco Grand Prix weekend.
Hartley’s weekend was compromised after hitting traffic in Q1, leaving him 15th on the grid after running seventh during final practice, with the New Zealander ultimately retiring late on after being hit by Charles Leclerc.
Teammate Pierre Gasly was able to reach Q3 and eventually finished the race P7 for Toro Rosso’s third points finish of the season, giving Hartley confidence in how the team was beginning to fully realise its pace in 2018.
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“It had been a strong weekend. Not really much to show for it unfortunately,” Hartley said.
“I’m still pretty positive for Montreal. We have an engine update coming, and we had a new floor here so we had some performance to put on the car. It looks like the team is really starting to unlock the car’s potential.”
Honda is set to deliver its first engine update of the season to Toro Rosso for the Canadian Grand Prix next weekend, and while Hartley is unsure just how big a step it will offer, he is sure it will continue the team’s recent momentum.
“I don’t know exact numbers, I think it’s better you ask someone from Honda or Toro Rosso,” Hartley said.
“But I think it’s meant to be a sizeable step.”
Gasly echoed Hartley’s hopes for the Honda update as he looks to carry over the team’s pace from Monaco into a more traditional circuit in Montreal.
“I’ll wait until FP1 to see exactly on the computer what the difference is,” Gasly said of the Honda update.
“I’ve learned in Formula 1 it is better to wait and see until you put on the new part, because sometimes it doesn’t work as well as you expect. Sometimes it works better. That’s why I want to see.
“It can only go in the right direction I think. Really excited about this upgrade. I think we did a good step this weekend. Monaco is a special track, but I hope we can carry that pace in the coming races.”
