Toro Rosso: which exhaust is better?

D Aniel Ricciardo stuck 117 more rounds in Mugello when he went to the briefing with the engineers at Toro Rosso. The Australian was one of the busiest drivers in the field on the last day of testing. Nevertheless he didn’t show anything. 'You can feel the neck muscles a little, because the main ones are fast, fluid corners. But for me it was 117 laps of fun.'

Hardly any differences between exhaust variants

Ricciardo ran a comparison test with two exhaust variants. In the morning, the Toro Rosso STR7 was equipped with a McLaren-like exhaust, with the tailpipes in a duct at the end of the side pods and aimed outwards at the diffuser. In the afternoon, the 22-year-old sun boy from Perth was sitting in the standard version. The exhaust comes out in a vertical opening around the articulation points of the front wishbones of the rear axle.

It will be a difficult decision: 'In terms of driving experience, there were hardly any differences. The lap times were also pretty similar. We now have to study all the data and the aero measurements to get an idea. The decision which exhaust we will use will be made over the weekend. '

Toro Rosso at the Sauber level

Overall, Ricciardo was satisfied with the test week in Mugello. 'We are at the music with Sauber, Force India and Williams. It is difficult to judge whether the last stages of expansion of the teams will bring changes in position. Mugello is not representative enough for that. There are no slow corners and the course is not going well the brakes. '

Mugello also did little to understand the tires. 'The track doesn't look like any of the race tracks on the calendar. That's why the tires were in a different work window. We actually only drove on the hard and medium compounds. You were able to drive five laps without the slightest loss of grip. When did you have something like this before ? '