Brake problems were the cause of Toro Rosso’s first major problem in pre-season testing, the Italian team confirmed on Tuesday.
After topping the distance covered chart last week, Pierre Gasly was continuing the junior Red Bull outfit’s surprisingly strong start with over 50 laps in the morning and a best time within half a second of pacesetter Sebastian Vettel.
However, the Frenchman would manage just one lap in the afternoon sparking thoughts of a first problem with new engine supplier Honda.
“Unfortunately a brake system issue caught us out in the afternoon and took longer than expected to fix, so we were limited to 54 laps,” Toro Rosso tweeted later, ending any speculation.
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After five days, one of which was washed out by rain and snow, Honda with already within 50 laps of the total they managed with McLaren last year and would be expected to surpass it on Wednesday.
Technical director Toyoharu Tanabe offered a little more insight into the Japanese manufacturer’s goal for this week adding: “Our programme this week is more race focused.
“Unfortunately we lost some track time, stopping running in the afternoon because of an issue with the car, but identifying problems like this is what testing is for and we will make further preparation to make up the lost time over the remaining three days.”