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Tost: With the Spec 3 engine, we must be in Q3

Tost: With the Spec 3 engine, we must be in Q3

05-10-2018 10:40
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Bobby Vincent

Toro Rosso boss Franz Tost has demanded that his two drivers must reach the final part of qualifying in Japan.

Toro Rosso now have a new and improved Spec 3 Honda engine, who have introduced the new upgrade for their home race in Japan.

The Spec 3 was introduced on the Friday of the Russian Grand Prix, but then Toro Rosso went back to the older version so they could try and perfect the integration between the engine and the chassis.

Tost has told his two drivers; Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly that they must get to Q3 in Suzuka.

"With the Spec 3 engine, we must be in Q3," Tost demanded. "We must be ahead of Sauber because they have put a lot of pressure on us in the Constructors' Championship."

Last week, Max Verstappen, who will be driving with the Honda power unit next season - claimed that Honda are now on par with Renault when it comes to power, a statement Honda boss Masashi Yamamoto disagrees with.

"Spec 3, which we brought in Russia, obviously hasn't raced yet so this is the first opportunity here," Yamamoto admitted. "It will be more comparible with the other engines we have used before (after the race). Not only the engine, but the entire performance with the car."