Toro Rosso got both cars to the checkered flag in Monaco with Sebastien Buemi finishing eleventh and Jaime Alguersuari coming home twelfth.
Both drivers were then promoted a place after Michael Schumacher was given a 20 second penalty for overtaking Fernando Alonso under the safety car. This gives Buemi his first point of the season.
Buemi explained that the race was actually fairly uneventful from his point of view, but is pleased with how it went: “It was a good race for me in the sense that I was able to finish without any accidents or technical problems and I finished ahead of my team-mate,” said the Swiss driver, before he learned of his ‘bonus’ point.
“Maybe we could have done a little bit better with a slightly different strategy, as I was doing some good lap times, but after I pitted, I found myself behind Liuzzi and then I was eleventh throughout.
“It was not a particularly exciting race for me: at the start, as Hulkenberg didn't get off the line, it meant I had a better run when the lights went out and my only worry was when I ran over some debris from Barrichello's accident. I expect we should be competitive in Turkey in two weeks time.”
Jaime Alguersuari was pleased with his twelfth place (which eventually became eleventh with Schumacher’s penalty) after only securing a ninth row grid slot in qualifying. “On Saturday, my qualifying did not go well, as I ended up seventeenth, so the main objective today was to finish the race, and gain experience for next year in Monaco.
“You cannot expect more on this track as it is very hard to overtake, especially as the man ahead of me was my team-mate, so you cannot take such a risk. I only had one little moment, when I spun at turn 1, but it didn't lose me a position.
“On the plus side both our cars finished the race, which in itself is an achievement here. Now, I just want to try and do better in Turkey, which will be another new track for me.”
Team principal Franz Tost was keen to congratulate Toro Rosso’s sister team for their one-two finish, and was satisfied with the team’s result – even before he learnt of the gift from the stewards: “First of all, congratulations to Red Bull Racing for a fantastic job: to finish first and second in Monaco is really exciting and something special.
“As for ourselves, our race here was compromised by our qualifying performance, as everyone knows overtaking is quite difficult here. Therefore, I did not expect much more than this result. We can take some satisfaction for getting both cars to the finish at this difficult circuit.
“It was also very important for Sebastien as because of some bad luck at the previous races, today's result was his first finish of the season. Jaime will also benefit from his 78 laps this afternoon, which will be good experience for him when he returns next year.
“Now, we hope to put ourselves into points scoring positions on a more regular basis, starting in Turkey at the next round.”
Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images
