A missed opportunity for Toro Rosso
In very difficult and especially wet conditions, the Malaysian qualifying session got underway this afternoon. Both Scuderia Toro Rosso drivers made it through to Q2, but that's where the team's luck stopped. Sebastien Buemi will start tomorrow's race from 13th position on the grid, just one place higher than team mate Jaime Alguersuari.
Giorgio Ascanelli: "Malaysian rain is like English tea: it comes around five and it’s the same temperature. Seriously though, we got our tactics right in going out immediately in Q1. But in Q2, if we had more confidence in the forecast, we should have gone out earlier on Intermediates, but we thought it was too risky. We called Sebastien in at the right minute, but he did not come in and we missed the best slot. Jaime was very lucky not to run out of fuel in Q1 as he stayed out for one lap too long and in Q2, I would say he is pretty much where we would have expected. Therefore, something of a missed opportunity today.”
Sebastien Buemi: “I’m angry because I did not make the most of Q2. But there’s nothing I can do about it and so we will have to tackle the race from where we are. I started Q2 on full wets because we felt the conditions demanded it, but I stayed on track too long and then, after I came in and switched to the Intermediates, it was too late because the rain had started to get stronger again.”
Jaime Alguersuari: “When you look at what happened to some of the quicker guys, I would say this qualifying result is reasonably okay for me. However, maybe if I had come in earlier in Q2 to switch from full wets to intermediates, then maybe I could have had a chance of seeing Q3. If the conditions are similar to this tomorrow and I believe that is the forecast, then you never know what could happen, although personally I would prefer a dry race.”
