By Andrew Cutler
July 21 2012

The Friday practice sessions at Hockenheim were a mixed bag for the Scuderia Toro Rosso squad. A dry 1st session was mainly used for trying out new aero parts and understanding how the F1-mandated tire choices for the German GP would work. The second session, run in the rain, showed yet again the the STR7 seems to prefer wet conditions over dry, at least in comparision to most of the other competitors.

STR would log the most laps of any squad in FP1. Daniel Ricciardo would make 30circuts, with a best time of 1:18.709 (14th fastest). Jean-Eric Vergne would log 34 laps, with a best time of 1:19.039 (17th fastest).

In FP2 the overall times were down owing to the wet, but the drivers' positions on the speed charts went up. Daniel would be 7th fastest with a best lap (of 23) at 1:28.513. JEV's best lap (of 26) would be 1:29.364; good enough for 11th.

Here are the team's post-Friday comments:

Daniel Ricciardo: 

  "The morning went well in terms of doing a lot of laps and getting plenty of track time. We evaluated some changes to the front wing... Then we were able to get on with the usual Friday programme and I stayed on the Prime tyre. Considering how many laps I did, I think the lap time was not too bad and I am hoping that we can be more competitive here than at Silverstone."

Jean-Eric Vergne:

"In the dry this morning, the car worked pretty well and the laps times don't mean much, as I was running the Hard prototype tyre. I felt the car was strong in FP1, which means we have a decent car for dry conditions if thats what it comes to for the rest of the weekend. Then, in the wet this afternoon, I was pleasently suprised at how well things went on the Extreme wets."

Laurent Mekies (Chief Engineer): 

"We knew that it might rain, which is why we ran as many laps as possible in the morning, more than anyone else. This afternoon was entirely wet again, we tried to do plenty of running and both of them did well not to make mistakes when they were first out on track, at the time of the wettest conditions. We got the best out of today and, as was the case at Silverstone, we are a bit more competetive in the wet."