Formula 1

Double Points For Toro Rosso In Team’s 100th Grand Prix

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Scuderia Toro Rosso scored a double points finish in its 100th Grand Prix in Hungary, with Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari finishing eighth and tenth respectively.

Buemi began the race from 23rd on the grid due to a penalty carried over from the German Grand Prix. He made up 15 places on his way to eighth.

“A fantastic race, one of my best,” said the Swiss driver. “Starting right from the back row I got a super start and I passed around ten cars on the opening lap. After that, I got into a good rhythm and was able to pass more cars on the damp track.

“Then, as it began to dry, I felt the set-up was not perfect and I had too much understeer. I tried not to get upset about it and then the team did a very good job, working at the pit stop to change the wing angle which helped me to save the tyres better and the stop was quick enough for me to jump up a few places.

“When the rain returned, I again felt the car was working very well and I was able to run at a good pace again, which helped me get into the points. It's nice to go on holiday now with another 4 points in the bag, especially starting with that five place grid penalty. There were plenty of exciting moments, especially my passing move on Kobayashi. I was too slow to catch up with him on the straight so I had to pass him under braking which was right on the limit. It's great to have this result, which owes something to such a good strategy.”

Alguersuari was adamant that he could have achieved more from the race and finished ahead of his teammate, but was nonetheless pleased with the team's result.

“Congratulations to the team for getting both cars into the points,” said the young Spaniard. “Today, it was clear in my mind that I could have finished seventh. I made one of my pit stops just as it began raining slightly again. With the tyres not yet up to temperature, at that point it was hard to stay on the track and I went off.

“But I carried on fighting and towards the end, it was unfortunate that I lost another place after the collision with Kobayashi, but as a team performance we can consider we did a good job today, so it is a nice way to go into the short break, although I can't wait to start again in Spa.”

Team principal Franz Tost was delighted with the result, and hopes the team can achieve similar after the summer break.

“With some help from two excellent performances from our drivers, the team gave itself the best possible present to celebrate Scuderia Toro Rosso's one hundredth Grand Prix, since we first took to the track in Bahrain in 2006,” he said.

“A combined eighth and tenth place finish is our best result of the season so far and from a strategy point of view, the team did an excellent job in difficult and changeable conditions, while the drivers made the most of that, delivering faultless drives without making any mistakes. Their lap times were also impressive this afternoon, so there are plenty of reasons to look forward to the rest of the season.

“Congratulations to everyone in the team at the track and those who work so hard at our factory and in the wind tunnel. They deserve the short break we have ahead of us, before returning to continue the fight in Spa-Francorchamps.”

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Peter joined the TCF team in September 2010 and covers GP2 and GP3 along with WTCC and Formula Two. You can find him on twitter at @PeteAllen_
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