Double DNF for Toro Rosso after promising qualifying
Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniil Kvyat failed to materialise their top 10 qualifying positions at today's Monaco Grand Prix as both eventually failed to finish the race.
Jean-Eric Vergne, STR9-04, DNF: "The race was going well, the pace was really encouraging, I was saving the tyres and the strategy looked like being the right one. Then, my engineer informed me about the drive-through penalty for "unsafe release" and finally we had the exhaust problem which definitely put an end to my race. It's such a shame! We had done a great job over the whole weekend, the team was able to give me a good car and I also performed well so I think a fifth place was possible today. Let's turn the page now and focus on the next race in Montreal, where I will again do everything I can to perform at my maximum, have another great qualifying session and score the so longed points."
Daniil Kvyat, STR9-03, DNF: “It’s disappointing that I had to retire today, especially because we looked competitive all weekend and had a good chance of finishing in the points here. I was able to hold my position at the start of the race and even move up to eighth before I had to retire. Unfortunately these things happen and I will now switch my focus to the next race where I hope we can carry over this momentum.”
Franz Tost, Team Principal: “Starting today’s race from seventh and ninth place and retiring both cars is definitely not the result we had expected. Both cars suffered an exhaust failure. Jean-Eric and Daniil both showed a strong performance today and all weekend, but unfortunately we could not provide them with a car capable of finishing where they would have deserved. We will now investigate the reasons for this failure and hopefully come back stronger at the next race in Canada.”
Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 track support leader: “Today was a real shame as we had the pace on both cars to finish in the top ten. JEV especially looked in good shape until the drive-through penalty put him down the field. Unfortunately both then suffered exhaust failures and STR will push hard to find out what the cause of the problems was and how to put in place fixes for Montreal. There is a chance that some debris could have affected some of the parts of the PU, but we will investigate tonight and see what repairs, if any, we need to do.”
