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Daniel Ricciardo sure Toro Rosso are right in midfield mix of teams

But Australian admits first 2013 race sim a weekend priority

Image: Daniel Ricciardo: Says there's still plenty on Toro Rosso's 'to-do' list

Daniel Ricciardo has expressed confidence that Toro Rosso are "in the mix" with their traditional midfield rivals heading into the final weekend of pre-season testing.

Asked more directly to assess their position in the pecking order, Ricciardo replied: "In the group we're fighting it's the Williams, the Sauber and the Force India. I'm really not sure who is the strongest out of those at the moment. It's so hard with testing...I think we just have to wait until racing and then all the nonsense will stop and we will really know." Toro Rosso introduced the baulk of their Melbourne-spec upgrades onto the STR8 on Day One when Jean-Eric Vergne was in the car. At the end of his own first day in the revised challenger, Ricciardo said there were some undoubted plus points, but still plenty to understand. "There's been some positives, some things I like on the new car, but also finding it in its window and working ideally where we want it to work, I still think this is taking a bit of time and we still need to understand it a little bit more," he said. "There are some positives but I don't believe it's yet come together." He added that completing a race simulation during his final day in the car on Sunday was now a priority. "We haven't done any race simulations yet so we're not sure how we are on long runs, with fuel tanks in the car," Ricciardo added. "Things I expect to happen now over the weekend, not only with us but with other teams, which might give us a clearer indication. Ideally we want to get it done. It's a big part of the 'to-do list'. There's quite a few mechanical things we still want to try."

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