By Andrew Cutler
April 16 2012

Given that the new aero elements that Scuderia Toro Rosso brought with them to Shanghai didn't prove to be an instant improvement, the squad essentially resigned themselves to a lack-luster race result, opting to use the GP as a 'test session', trying out differing set-ups as they prepare for the future events.  

Daniel Ricciardo started from the 17th grid spot, and would finish there as well.  “My start off the line was okay, but I got a bit squeezed around the outside at Turn 1 and lost what I had gained earlier. Then, on the same lap, I went round some debris on the track at Turn 6 and lost another place. In fact, my whole first stint was not very good and we were struggling to overtake. In the second stint, it went slightly better and the last one better still, but the pace today was not good enough to deliver anything better."

STR opted to change up the settings on Jean-Eric Vergne's car, which required him to start from the pit lane after everyone else had passed by: He would work his way up to 16th by GP's end.  “We decided to change some elements on the car that had not worked well up to qualifying, which is why I started from pit lane, so my set-up for the race was more similar to what we had in Melbourne and Sepang. I did not have high hopes of doing much, starting from the back, but the important thing was to see how the car performed. It was pretty good, so I expect we will start with it like that in Bahrain and hopefully be able to have a better race result. Today’s race had some enjoyable moments as I passed a few cars, but it was a bit short for me, as a few more laps and I think I could have got ahead of the two guys in front of me."

Afterwards, Team Principal Franz Tost remarked; "Having run the two cars in different configurations to one another today, we will now analyse carefully the cable data to work on producing the best possible set-up for next weekend’s race in Bahrain, where I believe we will be capable of getting a better result.”