Toro Rosso failed to score points in Australia today, with Sebastien Buemi out in a first lap accident and Jaime Alguersuari finishing eleventh.
However, Alguesuari did have an eventful race, and much of it was spent just in front of the seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher. The German did make it past Jaime in the end, but the Toro Rosso was a source of much frustration for the Mercedes driver.
Alguesuari thinks that on another day he might have scored his first ever F1 points, but is pleased with he progress he and his team are making. “I think on the one hand I'm quite happy as I had a long fight with Michael (Schumacher) which was nice. I was under a lot of pressure, but I was able to keep him behind me for many laps until I made a small mistake at Turn 13 with a few laps to go and he managed to pass me. That mistake might have cost me a point, but we have to be happy with the progress we made this weekend, especially as I feel there is still a lot more to come.”
Sebastien Buemi was completely faultless in his retirement, collected by Kamui Kobayashi who had lost control of his Sauber. “Today went really badly for me as I was involved in someone else's accident on the opening lap and I don't really know how it happened; I guess Kobayashi must have braked really late. I did not get the best of starts but I was still holding position. Then I was hit from behind at Turn 6. It's a very disappointing end to what had looked like a promising weekend with a very real chance to score points at the end of Sunday. But that's racing and at least we only have to wait a few days to try again in Malaysia.”
Franz Tost, the team principal, said that the day’s events in Melbourne provided a poignant example of why F1 shouldn’t change the rules so frequently. “This was a fantastic and very interesting Formula 1 race and a lesson to those who seem to want to change the rules of the sport every five minutes. Unfortunately, Buemi was involved in an opening lap incident with Kobayashi.
“As for Alguersuari, he did a solid job right from the start of Friday and it was by far the most competitive race weekend of his F1 career. His performance continues to improve with every race and he would have deserved a point today. He also learned an interesting lesson from Michael Schumacher, in that if you lose concentration for just one tenth of a second, he will pass you.
“Overall, I am quite confident for the forthcoming races, as when compared to our work in Bahrain, the team made a significant step forward here in Melbourne.”
