F1
Nate Saunders, General Editor, F1 6y

Pierre Gasly encouraged by 'really positive' start with Honda

Formula 1, AutoRacing

MONTMELO, Spain -- Pierre Gasly is confident Toro Rosso's new engine partner Honda can keep silencing its critics after a positive opening week to 2018's pre-season.

Toro Rosso completed more laps (324) than any other team over the weather-affected first test, 147 of which Gasly completed on Thursday. Honda came into the new season having endured three horrible seasons with McLaren, which led to their partnership being severed at the end of 2017.

"I think it's great," Gasly said of Honda's start with the team. "147 laps is more than twice a race. I think it's really positive. We didn't have any issues with the engine, which is always great, and hopefully we can carry on like this."

When asked if Honda had started silencing its critics, Gasly said: "Hopefully. I think today we have shown that the engine is fine.

"Toro Rosso is working really hard with Honda in terms of communication to have the best package possible. We have a common target. We are working as a team altogether, not as two different teams.

"We still need to improve a lot. There are still a few things we need to improve, I guess like every team. But so far, it's been great working with them. They are pushing really hard. That is always nice."

Toro Rosso has switched from being a Renault customer to taking the role of Honda's factory team. Gasly drove at the tail-end of 2017, as Toro Rosso and Renault came into direct conflict over engine unreliability, but thinks it is too premature to guess which one is best.

"It's way too early to compare. We haven't done any qualifying simulations. We didn't really focus on one-lap performance. It was more on the long runs. We still have quite a lot to do in the car.

"You cannot really compare now. But so far I must say I am pretty happy. In testing, you need to test many things. We are testing also things on the engine, some of them work, some of them don't. It's all about understanding what we need for the first race in Melbourne, and I think everyone in the team did a good job."

^ Back to Top ^