Toro Rosso just outside the points in Australia
It was a day of mixed fortunes for the Scuderia Toro Rosso drivers at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne. Sebastian Buemi was forced to retire from the Australian GP as he was involved in the Kobayashi-accident while team mate Jaime Alguersuari had his most competitive race weekend of his F1 career and finished just outside the points on 11th place.
Jaime Alguersuari:
STR5-03
Pos. 11th
“I think on the one hand I’m quite happy as I had a long fight with Michael (Schumacher) which was nice. I was under a lot of pressure, but I was able to keep him behind me for many laps until I made a small mistake at Turn 13 with a few laps to go and he managed to pass me. That mistake might have cost me a point, but we have to be happy with the progress we made this weekend, especially as I feel there is still a lot more to come.”
Sebastien Buemi:
STR5-01
Retired
“Today went really badly for me as I was involved in someone else’s accident on the opening lap and I don’t really know how it happened; I guess Kobayashi must have braked really late. I did not get the best of starts but I was still holding position. Then I was hit from behind at Turn 6. It’s a very disappointing end to what had looked like a promising weekend with a very real chance to score points at the end of Sunday. But that’s racing and at least we only have to wait a few days to try again in Malaysia.”
Franz Tost: “This was a fantastic and very interesting Formula 1 race and a lesson to those who seem to want to change the rules of the sport every five minutes. Unfortunately, Buemi was involved in an opening lap incident with Kobayashi. As for Alguersuari, he did a solid job right from the start of Friday and it was by far the most competitive race weekend of his F1 career. His performance continues to improve with every race and he would have deserved a point today. He also learned an interesting lesson from Michael Schumacher, in that if you lose concentration for just one tenth of a second, he will pass you. Overall, I am quite confident for the forthcoming races, as when compared to our work in Bahrain, the team made a significant step forward here in Melbourne.”
