Toro Rossos stuck for most of the race
It wasn't a great result for Toro Rosso, at least not compared to what could have been. Jaime's pre-race issue forced him to start from the pits, denying his 11th place starting position. Sebastian was also disappointed as he failed to make it into the points.
Jaime Alguersuari, STR5-03, Pos. 12th:
“I am satisfied that I finished the race, but to be honest, it was possibly the most boring race of my career. I was stuck in a train of cars and there was virtually nothing I could do. It should have been a good opportunity for us to score points today, having qualified eleventh, but it went wrong before the start with a coolant leak on the car, which meant I started from pit lane after the others had gone by. At that point, my hopes of having a good day disappeared. At least I managed three overtaking moves. Looking on the positive side, I think our car has improved in terms of performance and it’s not so bad to start last and finish twelfth.”
Sebastien Buemi, STR5-02, Pos. 14th
“It was a very tough race. I made a good start, but on the opening lap I had a contact with Kobayashi, which I think might have done some damage because from that point on I had a lot more understeer. So we decided to stop and change the front wing to be on the safe side and at the same time we also changed the tyres. I came out behind Petrov and spent most of the race behind him. Later on, I had to pit another time to pressurise the hydraulic system and we again changed tyres, which meant I was able to catch and pass Jaime and close on Petrov again. I tried to pass him, I didn’t manage it and I was caught by Kubica, who was on fresh tyres. Another pit stop was needed, where we fitted the soft tyres and after that I was able to do some good lap times. I am disappointed because I think that, without the difficulties I had, tenth place should have been within my grasp. However, generally the car has improved which is encouraging for the next race.”
Franz Tost:
“Unfortunately, on his laps to the grid, we noticed there was a water leak on Jaime’s car and as we were unable to fix it before the pit lane closed, he had to start from the pits. This was a shame, as it meant he was unable to make the most of his best qualifying performance of the season, which had seen him secure eleventh place on the grid. After that, he drove a good race. As for Sebastien, on the opening lap, he told us he thought he might have a problem with the front wing, after making contact with another car. Therefore, we called him in during the first Safety Car period, changing his tyres and the nose section. Later on, he was unable to get past Petrov, so we decided to bring him in again for fresh tyres, after which he passed his team-mate. He was still unable to catch Petrov and when Kubica, on fresh tyres passed both our cars, we again brought Buemi in for new tyres, in the hope this would give him a performance advantage, but the strategy did not work. Overall, we should have got a better result, as the car had performed well throughout the weekend. Unfortunately, this evening a variety of circumstances kept us out of the points positions.”
