Pierre Gasly says he has been encouraged by the gains made by Toro Rosso during its first weeks of action with Honda, and is confident the team will be in the thick of the midfield fight.
Toro Rosso has linked up with Honda on a three-year deal, replacing McLaren as the marque’s sole partner, with the Japanese operation having so far struggled for reliability and performance since its F1 return in 2015.
Gasly finished third on the timesheets on Thursday at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, and also added another substantial lap haul to Toro Rosso’s pre-season tally.
“We have done everything we wanted,” he said. “We had planned 150 laps and in the end we did 169 so it was a really productive day on the team side and my side.
“We know where we are, we know we still have some work to do but as a starting point we are really happy with the chassis and the engine so far.
“The three top teams are on another level and there is no point to compare with them but I think we are in the fight for the midfield, which is positive.
“It’s going to be really tight so we need to analyse all the things we have tried because it will be really tight in Melbourne.”
Commenting on his time of a 1:18.363, Gasly said: “I was pretty pleased! When I crossed the line and saw the time I was pretty happy. I think I more or less put everything together.
“It was important but the most important thing is that we have improved the car throughout these eight days and I felt better than through all the days. It means we are going in the right direction.”
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