German GP a missed opportunity for Toro Rosso
Toro Rosso leaves Germany empty handed after a race where both drivers failed to progress forwards. Jean-Eric Vergne was put back due to a penalty while Daniil Kvyat retired with his STR9 on fire.
Jean-Eric Vergne, STR9-01, 13th: "I was having a good race until the moment in which I had to make a five seconds stop-and-go penalty during my second pit stop, which compromised any possibility of scoring points. After it, I came back to the track on the option tyres, which are very fragile in traffic conditions. Very soon my front left was too damaged and I was forced to stop again for prime tyres to finish the race. I think points were possible here, the race was looking great so it's been a real shame."
Daniil Kvyat, STR9-03, DNF: “It’s a shame how my race ended today, especially because yesterday went very well. My first stint was looking okay until the contact with Perez, which made me lose ground. I think I didn’t look after my tyres well enough during the second stint, in which I tried to catch up and get back some positions. The final stint was looking good in terms of pace, but I suddenly lost drive and I then saw smoke and later flames in the mirrors. I started to feel really hot in the car, so I parked it and jumped out as quickly as possible. It’s not a nice situation to be in, but I’m now more concerned about the car than anything else. I hope everything will be ok and I will now switch my focus to Hungary, where I hope we can do better.”
Franz Tost, Team Principal: "Daniil's race was compromised by the collision with Perez. We had to call him in to change the tyres but the right hand side of his car was damaged which had a big impact on the aero-balance. So from this moment onwards he was no longer able to keep the pace. Unfortunately he could not finish the race because of a drive train failure, which we are still investigating. Jean-Eric showed a good performance, especially at the beginning of the race until the overtaking manoeuvre with Grosjean. Coming out from corner six he went off the track with four wheels and therefore the stewards decided to give him a five seconds stop-and-go penalty, which he paid during his second pit stop. With the supersoft, he started to suffer from heavy front left graining, which slowed him down. Of course, for Jev to finish thirteenth is disappointing and after Daniil's good P8 result in his Qualifying session yesterday, we were expecting some points today. We have now a lot of work in front of us until the next race in Budapest, where we hope to show a better performance."
Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 track support leader: “Today was a missed opportunity as our car performed yesterday and the team deserved to score a couple of points. Jev’s car worked well but his penalty pushed us out of the top ten. Daniil was really unlucky to spin in the first part of the race and then to retire in such a dramatic way. The issue is still under investigation but we believe it was an ignition problem that resulted in unburnt fuel igniting in the exhausts.”
