Touhg day for Toro Rosso with engine change and brake problem
It was a tough Malaysian Saturday for the Scuderia Toro Rosso. In the morning, Sebastian Bourdais needed an engine change, luckily for him it's his first one of the season and he will not receive a penalty. During the qualifying session, the Frenchman suffered a brake problem on his fast lap which resulted in a 19th place. Team mate Sebastian Vettel made it into Q2 and will start the race from 15th position on the grid.
We played our Joker today, as a driver's first engine change
of the season is penalty-free.
Sebastian Vettel: "Today, Q3 was definitely out of our reach. Unlike Melbourne this is a circuit where you have a lot of fast corners and so it did not suit us as well. All the same, I think we did pretty much the best we could. Unfortunately, on my last flying lap I made a mistake at Turn 14. Of course I was pushing hard to get as close as possible to Q3, higher up the grid at least and it cost me about two tenths. But we can be reasonably satisfied.I think we have a good set-up for race conditions."
Third Practice Session: Best lap 1.35.827, pos. 9th, 16 laps
Qualifying Session: Best lap 1.35.648, pos. 15th
Sebastien Bourdais: "I was in P15 on my second run and the car felt good so we should have had a shot at Q2, but then I had a brake problem at the second corner, I pumped the brake pedal but when I got to Turn 4, the pedal went to the floor again and there was nothing I could do. It's been a tough weekend so far, as I did not get too much running yesterday. The stars do not seem to be aligning in our favour. Hopefully, I will have better luck tomorrow, maybe if the weather turns crazy."
Third Practice Session: Best lap 1.36.668, pos. 18th, 15 laps
Qualifying Session: Best lap 1.36.677, pos. 19th
Giorgio Ascanelli: "We had to change the engine on Bourdais' car after the morning session. Then in the afternoon his car suffered a brake problem which meant he had to slow down on his fast lap. Malaysia has confirmed it is a demanding circuit for the entire package and we did not get it quite right. My biggest regret is the lack of reliability we have seen in certain areas over the past two days."
