Both Toro Rosso drivers were knocking on the door of the top-10 fastest runners yesterday morning in Monte Carlo at the first day of F1 practice in the tiny principality got underway, and while the Faenza-based team's young Swiss rookie Sebastien Buemi reported a generally positive day and that he was making steady progress, team mate Sebastien Bourdais was unhappy with the Ferrari V8-powered STR4 car on longer runs.

Former triple ChampCar title winner Bourdais, who like many of the other competitors on the famous street track yesterday had a spin at Ste Devote, said his Red Bull-sponsored single seater was performing well on shorter runs but its behaviour wasn't so good on longer stints and the Frenchman 'struggled' to keep the car away from the barriers.

Sebastien Buemi (STR4-03)

“It was a good session and we tested everything we wanted to, which is positive. We are still lacking a bit of pace, but the track was improving towards the end of the session, and those who fitted new tyres at that point were clearly quicker, which means there is some potential there. There is also potential in the car, so if we can put all the elements together for Saturday, it should be good. It is also positive that we had no problems with the car and that we didn’t crash, which is always a key to a good weekend here in Monaco. As for the tyres, both types worked well, so now we need to improve our car set-up, even if some of the new parts we have here are also an improvement.”

Sebastien Bourdais (STR4-01)

“The car felt quite good on the short runs, but less so on the longer ones, when the car’s behaviour made it difficult to sustain the lap times. We got through our work programme for the day. We are suffering from a slight lack of pace, but overall we did the best we could in these two sessions. Now we must look at the data for Saturday and the race, because it looks as though we are going to have two different sets of requirements for the short and long runs, although it is not tyre related. This is of course a special place to drive, although today it was a bit of a struggle to keep away from the barriers.”