Speed: Toro Rosso more competitive

"We definitely seem to be more competitive this weekend, although my tenth place today doesn't mean much," said Speed.

"The developments we tried at last week's test, especially those on the aero front are a step in the right direction, but we still have a long way to go to make up for lost time this winter.

"But we are doing better, the team is doing a good job and this is an improvement. But there have been growing pains today with problems on my front wing endplate and my seat. But these are little things that are easy to fix."

The Italian team made progress in last week's test at Barcelona, introducing new components in their car for this weekend's race.

Speed's teammate Tonio Liuzzi, however, admitted he was hoping to do better after posting the 16th quickest time.

"Honestly, I was expecting something a bit better after some useful testing at this track last week," said Liuzzi.

"Unfortunately, we had some niggling problems with things like the electrics and the car set-up. That means we've got a lot to do to get the car sorted out for tomorrow.

"We'll have to wait and see. Towards, the end of the session I was forced to stop early with a hydraulic problem, that had started around the halfway point in the session."