The Scuderia Toro Rosso team showed good race pace during the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas, but could only take one point away from the event with Jean-Eric Vergne finishing tenth after a penalty. Daniil Kvyat was on course to fight for the points after a good charge through the field, but picked up damage that saw him forced in for an extra unscheduled pit stop.
Vergne continued to show everyone why he should remain in Formula 1 in 2015 with a feisty drive in Austin, although he would receive a five-second penalty post-race for forcing the Lotus of Romain Grosjean off the track at turn one and breaking his fellow Frenchman’s front wing and floor in the process, although he felt it was a legitimate overtaking manoeuvre.
“It was an exciting race, but difficult at the same time,” stated Vergne. “In the final stages I absolutely wanted to gain positions. I saw the opportunity to overtake Romain (Grosjean) and I decided to go for it. When he closed the door it was just too late. At the end, this is racing and you have to fight as much as you can. I like fighting, so it was good fun.
“It’s great to be in the points, especially after a difficult weekend, with not much running. We have the car to do well and I’m happy that we do not have to wait too much before being back in the car next week in Brazil, where hopefully we’ll be able score more points.”
Team-mate Kvyat was on course to climb from the back of the grid at the start into the points before picking up damage in a battle with the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen towards the end that necessitated an extra pit stop for the young Russian that meant he finished fifteenth and last.
“We were competitive today and we deserved to score some points here in Austin,” claimed Kvyat. “We had a fantastic pace until the last part of the Grand Prix when I managed to overtake Raikkonen, but unfortunately I damaged my front left tyre during the fight. I had too many vibrations and I had to pit again.
“It could have been a fantastic race and it’s obviously disappointing when towards the end everything goes wrong. We couldn’t have done anything better, but sometimes that’s how it goes. I’m looking forward to Brazil, where hopefully we can achieve a better result.”
