Problem for Vettel during pit stop
Vitatonio Liuzzi had a good race within the possibilities of the Toro Rosso package. The Italian driver finished the Turkish Grand Prix in 15th position while his rookie team mate, Sebastian Vettel, finished 19th.
Tonio Liuzzi (STR2-03) Pos. 15th
"Overall, this was actually quite a good race from my point of view and the most important thing is that I finished. I had some problems with a harsh upshift in the first stint and towards the end I eased off a bit to look after the engine. It was good to see the chequered flag. I had a strong race but unfortunately the finish position is not so good, but hardly anyone stopped ahead of us. I am happy to have driven without making any mistakes. I had some good fights with
Fisichella at the beginning and then with others at least for a few corners. Even though it is such a tough circuit I felt fine at the end."
Sebastian Vettel (STR2-04) Pos. 19th
"I had a good start and got away well, but as I upshifted through the gears I lost a bit of momentum. Especially in the first stint I was unable to match the pace of those ahead, particularly down the straight. Apart from that, my biggest problem was at the pit stop when the engine stalled, so we had to re-start it and I was then in neutral instead of first, so it cost me a few seconds. Overall, it was a tough race, and we have to see now why we were not able to run at the pace we had expected. Now, I am looking forward to having my first proper test with the team at Monza next week. As for today, I would prefer to feel a lot more tired than I do, but me much higher up the order!"
Gerhard Berger: "Tonio had a good race within the possibilities of our package. He had a tough fight with Davidson and the Hondas. We are still a bit behind in terms of speed, but Tonio and the team made no mistakes. Sebastian struggled a bit this weekend to get the car right. In the race, his engine stalled in the pit stop and we need to find out why. Later, he suffered an electrical problem with the gearbox. But we know we will have a couple of races like this with Sebastian this year in preparation for him being able to fight harder next season. It is very tight in this part of the pack and we just have to work on improving the car to move forward and that starts with next week's Monza test, when we will have a few new parts to try."
T-Car: STR2-01 (Vettel)