Brake problems cause double DNF for Toro Rosso
Toro Rosso endured a very disappointing race in Austria where neither car managed to get to the finish. Both drivers have to abandon the race with brake problems, a result of the unexpectedly high temperatures.
Jean-Eric Vergne, STR9-04, DNF: “I have struggled with the brakes from the beginning of the race. It's difficult to drive the car with such a considerable rear locking. It's not good for tyre life and for the balance in general so it was really a tricky race. I was doing my best to finish it at least but in the end I just could not bring the car to the chequered flag. Problems happen, it's a shame that they occurred here but the new aero package is working well and we have a good car to face the next Grand Prix in Silverstone. There are still a lot of races in front of us and I'm sure we are moving in the right direction for the rest of the season."
Daniil Kvyat, STR9-03, DNF: “I’m obviously disappointed with how today turned out, especially because everything was working so well this weekend and it seemed like a promising race. Our pace was strong, our updates and also tyre management worked well. The start was difficult, I lost a few positions but I managed to get a position back. From then on I was able to push hard and it looked like we could have a strong result. Around lap 26 I saw my rear right tyre blow up and I was forced to stop. I’m not quite sure what exactly happened, but we will now analyse everything closely and find out what the problem was today. On the positive side, we have made a solid step forward this weekend and I think it looks promising for the upcoming races, so I can’t wait to get to Silverstone where we will aim high again.”
Franz Tost, Team Principal: “Starting from seventh position and not finishing the race is quite disappointing. We have to investigate the problem on Daniil’s rear right suspension, as well as the brake problem on Jean-Eric’s car. Generally speaking the car showed a solid performance in Qualifying and now we have work hard to transfer this also into a strong race result. It is a real shame that we were not able to do so here at the Red Bull Ring and in front of all the Red Bull family, but we are hopeful that we can come back stronger at the next race in Silverstone.”
Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 track support leader: “We had a lot of promise this weekend but unfortunately didn’t deliver in the race. The Power Unit has worked well over the entire event and was engaging extremely well with the new aero package. Daniil’s grid position is a lot more representative of where we are than the race results show today.”
