By Andrew Cutler
September 22 2012

Saturday was another day of trying to get the last little bit of speed out of the STR7 for the boys from Faenza. While everyone seems satisfied with howmuch better the car was over it's Friday performance, Scuderia Toro Rosso still find themselves starting tomorrows Singapore GP from nearly 2/3 of the way down the grid.

The FP3 session would find Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne running at roughly the same pace as they had shown yesterday in FP2. Daniel would log 16 laps, with a best time of 1:50.664; good enough for 13th fastest overall. Jean-Eric would shave almost a full second off of his best FP2 lap buy posting a 1:51.059 (out of 17 laps), but this was still only good enough for 17th fastest.

Both men would make it out of the Q1 session, Daniel doing so decisively by posting the 7th best lap. Come Q2, however, neither driver was able to put their cars ahead of what has become STR's 'normal' station in the grid pecking order. They will share Row Eight for the race, with Daniel in 15th and Jean-Eric in 16th.

Here are the team's post-qualy comments:

Daniel Ricciardo (15th, 1:48.774):

"I was actually happier with my best lap in Q1 than I was with my best effort in Q2, therefore I had been hoping to be a little bit further up the grid, maybe jumping both the Saubers, but this position is not too bad and overall, I’d say we’re making progress. Certainly, thanks to the work we did overnight, the car was better in FP3 than it was yesterday, so I hope we can have another good race tomorrow, on a track where we know anything can happen."  

Jean-Eric Vergne (16th, 1:48.849):

"For my first time in Singapore, I feel I can be satisfied with the way qualifying went this evening. Ever since Monza, I have had to deal with some neck pain and I managed that situation well, so that I could deal with all the kerbs and bumps at this track. Finishing within a tenth of my team-mate, who has raced here before is another reason for me to be pleased with my performance, when I consider I was over a second slower than him yesterday. It’s a long race tomorrow, during which I expect to improve even more and I really hope we can make the most of any opportunity that comes our way."

James Key, Technical Director:

"After Friday, we had to refine the direction we were working in, especially for the Option tyre in Daniel’s case, while Jev was struggling a bit with braking stability. It’s his first time at this track and he had a huge amount to learn, considering how long and technical it is. Then overnight, both drivers and their engineers managed to make a good step forward, particularly for Jean-Eric, so that the car seemed reasonably well balanced in FP3. In Qualifying, we felt we could have been one place further up, even if Q3 was unlikely. But we are only a few tenths off those ahead of us and as this is typically an eventful race, we will be looking to capitalise on our race performance. Most important, both drivers have kept it clean all weekend, so well done to both of them and especially to Jean-Eric for learning it so quickly."

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Unfortunately, I will be out of town for the next few days, so I will not be able to post a recap of STR's Singapore race (I may not even get to watch it).