1 race, 1 point for Toro Rosso
The Scuderia Toro Rosso has had a good start of the new season as Sebastien Buemi was able to score 1 point at the Australian Grand Prix today. Team mate Jaime Alguersuari made a good start to the race but due to an incident with Schumacher, he was hit back in the field and finished in 13th position.
Sebastien Buemi
(STR6-02)
Pos. 10th
“It’s not too bad finishing tenth, after making it to Q3 yesterday, but I think I could have done better, maybe an eighth or ninth place was possible. It’s a shame that my team-mate and I made contact at the first corner. It’s not the first time it has happened, so I think we will be having a chat about it after I’ve watched a recording of the incident! Towards the end, I was not able to hold off Massa, who was much quicker than me at that point, but I am still pleased with the result. Overall, I would say we are definitely more competitive than last year and now we must continue to move forward, bringing further improvements to the car. It has been a positive start and we will have a lot to learn from analysing this whole weekend and then we will see what we can do in Malaysia.”
Jaime Alguersuari
(STR6-04)
Pos. 13th
“I got a good start, moving up to about tenth or eleventh place I think. Then, coming into Turn 2, Michael (Schumacher) cut the corner as he was having a go around the outside, while I was on the inside. The result was that he touched my front wing and I had to come in to change it. He could not have avoided doing it, as I was already in the middle of the corner. That meant I had an extra stop, which effectively ended my chances of getting a good result. I have to say my car worked well, with quite a good pace. I am pleased to have finished the first race and now we must look at what we can do to improve further for Malaysia.”
Franz Tost: “A good result for the whole team, because to score a point in the first race proves that everyone at Toro Rosso worked well over the winter and everyone here at the track, back in the factory and at our wind tunnel deserves praise for that. Buemi had a good start, but unfortunately, at the first corner, Alguersuari drove into him and this had a negative impact on the performance of Buemi’s car for the rest of the afternoon. Nevertheless, Sebastien performed well and did a very good job. Given all the negative comments we heard over the winter about their tyres, Pirelli should also be congratulated on their performance here, especially when you consider that one car finished in the points making just one pit stop throughout the race. Finally, well done to Sebastian Vettel for starting the season with another win for Red Bull. We can now prepare for Malaysia, with the confirmation that we have started out on the right foot and we must work to maintain this momentum.”
