Double disappointment for Toro Rosso
Toro Rosso had a dismal Malaysian GP weekend as both drivers failed to get a reward for their hard work through the race. Sebastian Buemi unfortunately speeded in the pitlane while Jaime Alguersuari strugled all the way to the end to get the Pirelli tyres working as they should.
Sebastien Buemi, STR6-02, Pos. 13th:
“I made a good start, passing Rosberg and was running well, closing up on Kobayashi and Schumacher, but at my first pit stop, I had the impression that the Pit Lane Speed Limiter had not been engaged. I immediately pressed it again, which deactivated it, so I speeded in the pit lane and picked up a ten second stop-go penalty, which I felt was a bit severe, as usually you get a drive-through penalty which loses you less time. After that I gave it my best shot but it was not enough to get a reward for the work, as I felt we could have got the Force Indias and at least finished ninth. I only changed tyres twice and it’s true that the last few laps were very difficult because of the degradation.”
Jaime Alguersuari, STR6-03, Pos. 14th:
“I need to analyse this race with the engineers, because to be honest, I don’t really understand what happened: we were slow and the tyre degradation was very high, higher than on Friday. I struggled to clean the graining off the front tyres and was losing performance with every passing lap. On the positive side, I made a good start, gaining a few places. But soon I found I could not keep up with the guys in front. Given the difficulties I had, I feel that finishing the race was in itself an achievement and the best I could do today.”
Franz Tost, Team principal:
“Both drivers made a reasonably good start, with Alguersuari completing the opening lap in eleventh place, one ahead of Buemi. On lap 8, Sebastien passed Jaime, showing a very good pace at this stage of the race, closing up on those ahead of him. We called him in for his first pit stop, but the Pit Lane Speed Limiter was deactivated and because of this, he exceeded the limit and was given a ten second stop-go penalty. From then on Seb’s race was compromised and if it had not been for that, he could have been in the fight for ninth place. As for Jaime, he struggled with rear tyre degradation and I think it would have helped if we had put him on a three stop strategy, instead of two. Fortunately, our closest competitors in the championship did not pick up that many points today, so we are still in reasonable shape in the Constructors’ classification. However, the mid-field is very close at the moment, which means we have to do a better job, starting in Shanghai in a few days time.”
