Verstappen pleased with improved Toro Rosso

Max Verstappen noted the improvement in the new Toro Rosso as he finished fifth fastest on the second day of running in Jerez.

Taking over from Carlos Sainz Jr, the rising Dutch star managed to get some useful mileage under his belt as he clocked up 73 laps aboard the new STR10. Although Verstappen underlined this was still early days to judge the potential of his car, the FIA European F3 graduate could already see some improvements from the one he drove last year during a couple of free practice sessions.

“[Today was] quite positive, we did a lot of long rungs, also for me to understand the new car, get confident in it,” Verstappen said. “I think it worked out very well. So far, the car felt more balanced from front to rear, so it [is] really good. The rest is… it’s difficult to say because this is the first day and everything is not on the limit.”

Despite being slightly delayed mid-session after the team elected to double check a cooling-related engine component, the 17-year-old still felt the 2015-spec Renault power unit proved to be “a good step forward; the first step they gave us here is already promising.”

Preparing for his first season in F1, Verstappen also had the opportunity to sample the new Toro Rosso in the wet when rain hit Circuito de Jerez with one hour of running left in southern Spain.

“I felt good. I like driving in the wet. Also for me, this was the first time with the intermediate tyres, but all along I think the car was behaving very well. The team wanted me to run [in the wet] because it is very useful for them as well. All in all, I think it was very good to go out.”

Click here for the gallery of the second day of testing at Jerez

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter