Speed says times not significant

The American finished in third position, just three tenths of a second behind the fastest time.

Although he admitted he completed his run with low fuel and soft tyres, Speed believes Toro Rosso are looking more competitive this weekend.

"I am not sure exactly where we stand, as you don't know what the others are doing in terms of fuel load," said Speed. "Certainly we were on the low side when I did my quickest lap.

"The gearbox is definitely a step forward and the car was not bad today. We struggled a bit from understeer.

"This afternoon, I had a few problems, including one with the steering wheel, that prevented us from getting through all our programme, apart from looking at the tyre comparison and even that was not so conclusive as I had a problem on the warm-up lap for my last run.

"Generally, we look more competitive than we have in past races. Now we just need to work hard, keep our heads down and try not to make any mistakes for the rest of the weekend."

Teammate Tonio Liuzzi completed a surprising day for Toro Rosso, the Italian finishing as fifth quickest.

Liuzzi too admitted the times were not realistic, but was still happy with the team's progress.

"Maybe the quick times look nicer than they are in reality," he said. "We still have to work on improving the balance of the car, as the handling is not perfect yet. Even so, it is nice to see our names near the top of the order, at least on paper. Now we need to work on improving our traction and front end grip.

"For sure we are more competitive as the car has made a big step forward, mainly with the new seamless shift gearbox, which makes for much quicker changes.

"However, the other teams have probably also improved in other areas. Tomorrow, we will work on generally improving the set up, but we can look to the rest of the weekend in a positive frame of mind."