Bourdais 'not totally at ease with the STR3'

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SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS

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Friday 8th August 2008

Sebastien Bourdais concedes that he's still not totally comfortable behind the wheel of Toro Rosso's STR3, however, the situation is improving.

A solid start to the season saw Bourdais quickly get the measure of his team-mate Sebastian Vettel. However, the introduction of the team's 2008 car, the STR3, saw the Frenchman's performances begin to drop off while Vettel grew stronger.

The F1 rookie, though, reckons he's starting to get a handle on the new car, confident his performances will improve as he adjusts to it.

"During Friday practice (in Hungary), like the previous week in testing at Jerez, I found several small things which helped me to understand the car better, even if I am still not totally at ease at the wheel of it," Bourdais told French newspaper L'Equipe.

"We all have our own style of driving and mine is ill-suited to a car that understeers in fast corners and oversteers in tight corners.

"I'm having trouble adjusting to it. One minute I'm over-driving and the next minute I'm not driving hard enough, whereas Vettel can adapt to (the car's characteristics) better.

"Despite everything, it's getting better little by little."

Bourdais has yet to be confirmed for next year's Championship, which could be Toro Rosso's last in F1 given that Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz has put his half of the team up for sale.