A point for Vettel, disaster for Bourdais
It’s a measure of how far Scuderia Toro Rosso has progressed this year and how expectations have moved forward since the points scoring debut of the STR3 in Monaco a fortnight ago, that the mood in the Montreal garage was a bit downbeat after the race.
Sure, German Seb had brought us one more point and both cars saw the chequered flag, but we had wanted more. More, we wanted more right from the moment that Vettel was showing incredible pace in free practice on Friday and on Saturday morning….until that fateful close encounter of the worst kind with the harsh and unrelenting concrete wall. But come on guys….Sebastian started from the pit lane for goodness sake and never put a foot wrong to come home eighth at the end of 70 gruelling laps when the slightest error on what was becoming a Speedway cinder track, meant you were history.
A good result, but not so good in the championship unfortunately, as Barrichello got some points for Honda which now puts the giant Japanese car company ahead of us again in the Constructors’ rankings.
As a young team, you always dream of that first win, so let’s say well done to Messrs. Kubica and Heidfeld for giving BMW its maiden F1 win, a one-two at that and the first ever Grand Prix victory for a Polish driver. Now we move on to Magny Cours, where Sebastien Bourdais will be the undoubted centre of attention: the Frenchman had a difficult weekend and will be hoping that on home turf, he can put on a good show for all his fans.
Sebastian Vettel (STR3-02) , Pos. 8th:
“First of all I have to thank the mechanics who did a great job to rebuild the car after my mistake on Saturday morning. They did an unbelievable job, working through the night to get the work done. It’s thank to them I raced today Starting from pit lane wasn’t easy but straight away I was able to catch the field, with a very good pace in the race and the car felt quite good. I was able to make up a couple of places and then after the safety car came out, which for sure helped us, we ran a one stop strategy. I do not know exactly what happened during the pit stop, I would say a problem with the refueling rig, but it cost us a lot of time maybe two positions in the ranking but nevertheless it was a great day and finishing P8 was fantastic. The race conditions were really bad with the asphalt still falling apart you couldn’t afford to go off line or you would lose at least a second. The last 10 laps didn’t make my life easy and I was in one of the most difficult position as the cars I had behind were quite strong. I wanted the point and I resisted various attacks. I was held up by Barrichello and I think he had a problem. It was a great race, I had a great fun- a fantastic race for me and the team”
Sébastien Bourdais (STR3-01) , Pos. 13th:
“It’s just been a bad weekend all round. The race went much as I expected it, because of the really bad track conditions from the mid point on or even earlier. In these conditions, some guys did really well, like Sebastian, but I could not do anything with the car. I went slightly off the line and got the gravel. If this happens once or twice you are concerned it can happen again which is not good, especially when you’re running last. It was a complete disaster for me so I just forgot about the possibility of trying to drive fast, just trying to bring the car home…and even doing this was a challenge. This was the worst race ever for me, the worst weekend of my entire career. I have never experienced anything like it. I’m looking forward now to the next race, my home race and at a circuit where the track doesn’t break up!”
Franz Tost:
“Vettel did a really fantastic job to start from the pit lane and pick up a point for eighth place, his second consecutive points finish. He might have finished higher if it wasn’t for a problem with the refuelling rig during his pit stop. He drove a very mature race, at one point managing to fight off Kubica and Alonso who were behind him and later, also keeping Kovalainen in a much faster car at bay. It was a very good well judged drive. Well done also to the team who worked brilliantly to build up a car with a new monocoque after Sebastian’s crash yesterday. As for Bourdais, he struggled all the weekend. Let’s just say this was not his weekend.”
