Toro Rosso came away from a very eventful race in Monaco with another point to add to their season’s tally after Sebastien Buemi took tenth place.
“I started sixteenth and finished tenth after a very difficult Grand Prix, because by the end of it, I have to admit I was not too sure where we were in terms of strategy and tyres, with the situation made more complicated by the Safety Car and the red flag,” said the Swiss driver.
“I think we can be happy with our race pace as my lap times were quite good. To come away from the toughest race of the year with a point is pleasing, especially when you consider our qualifying did not go so well. Now I am looking forward to Canada, where I had a good race last year, finishing eighth.”
Jaime Alguersuari did not fare so well. He crashed into the back of Lewis Hamilton six laps from the end of the grand prix and had to retire with a heavily damaged car.
“I seemed to be in traffic all the time, which is normal here, so I was unable to exploit the full potential of the tyres,” he explained. “It was very difficult, or nearly impossible to overtake so there was not much I could do, having started so far back on the grid.
“As for the accident towards the end, I was overtaking Heidfeld at the time. I think Sutil had a problem with his rear tyre, so Hamilton braked very hard in front of me and, although I also braked as hard as I could, it was too late, I could not stop and went into him. Of course it's disappointing, but our race pace is encouraging so I hope we can make use of that in Montreal in two weeks time.”
Team principal Franz Tost accepted that there was little Alguersuari could have done to avoid his accident, and congratulated Buemi on an excellent drive.
“Sebastien Buemi did a very good job, not making any mistakes which is not easy at Monaco, eventually finishing six places higher than his grid position,” he said. “Jaime Alguersuari was unfortunately involved in the accident that brought out the final safety car and then the red flag. He had nowhere to go and he could not avoid it.
“Now, we must analyse why our qualifying performance was not good enough, whereas our race pace was better. For the next two races, we will have the same Soft and Supersoft Pirelli tyres, which suggests that Montreal and Valencia should also produce some exciting racing.”
Toro Rosso also celebrate a win in Monaco this morning for their third driver Daniel Ricciardo, who took victory in the Formula Renault 3.5 series.
