Daniel Ricciardo was spotted doing some fitness training this afternoon at the Catalunya circuit and even if it’s pleasing to see a race driver doing all he can to prepare for the coming season, the downside is that it meant he was out of the cockpit.
That was because of a problem with a driveshaft on the STR7 that took a while to fix, so that by the end of the day, our Aussie driver completed 50 laps. Nevertheless, the morning produced positive results as the team worked on assessing the effect of mechanical changes to the new car.
That’s Daniel finished with driving now, until the final pre-season test, at this same track, which gets underway next Thursday. That means it’s Jean-Eric Vergne’s turn to reacquaint himself with the STR7 cockpit for the final two days.
Our two young drivers are keen to learn as much as they can: the Frenchman has been here for the past two days, following everything that’s been going on while Dan has driven and now it will be the Australian’s turn to watch from the garage. Very often, drivers head home once they have had their go at the wheel, but in the Toro Rosso camp, every opportunity to learn and improve is grasped with both hands.
Testing times mean little, but for the record, Daniel’s 1.23.639 was good enough to be fifth out of the ten drivers in action. Ahead of him were Hulkenberg in the Force India, Perez in the Sauber, Vettel in the Red Bull Racing and Alonso in the Ferrari.
Good In The Morning, Less So In The Afternoon