Formula 1

Toro Rosso Haul Both Cars into Q2 in Singapore Qualifying

2 Mins read
Jaime Alguersuari - Photo Credit: Vladimir Rys/Getty Images

Jaime Alguersuari - Photo Credit: Vladimir Rys/Getty Images

 

Toro Rosso recovered from a difficult Friday in Singapore to get both cars through to Q2 in today’s qualifying session. Sebastien Buemi will start tomorrow’s race from P14, two places higher up the order than team-mate Jaime Alguersuari.

“In the end, I am happy with my performance as I feel I managed good laps in both Q1 and Q2,” said Buemi. “It's true we always lack a bit of pace in qualifying, but we have seen recently that does not rule out our chances of having a good race. So I hope that will be the case tomorrow, also taking into account we managed to save a set of new Supersoft tyres.

“It will be an extremely long and tough night and it will be important to maintain concentration from start to finish. If we can do that, there is every reason to think we can deliver a good result.”

Alguersuari, who has failed to get out of Q1 in five of the last eight races, was probably pleased to transfer that particularly ignominy to Vitaly Petrov this weekend. However, the Spaniard said that he had plenty of difficulties with the car today, and is hoping for better fortunes in the race.

“This afternoon, I did what I could and tried my best, but while yesterday I was happy with the car, that was not the case today and I struggled a lot with the set-up, the main problem being a lack of grip,” he said. “Therefore I feel what I achieved was the maximum I could do, with the car as it was. Tomorrow everything can change in what is usually the longest race of the year in very tough conditions for the cars and drivers.”

Technical director Giorgio Ascanelli said that, despite both cars making it through to Q2, things are far from perfect in Singapore this weekend. However, he also shares the optimism of his drivers, and thinks that things will come good on race day.

“So far, we have had a couple of eventful days and although we got both cars into Q2, we are not in that good shape,” he explained. “Our grid positions owe something to Kobayashi's unfortunate accident and the problems of others. We have lost pace compared to Monza. Due to the lack of track time yesterday because of Seb's accident, for which I do not blame him and Jaime's technical problem, there are a couple of set-up solutions we were unable to exploit. Because of this, we had to concentrate more on race preparation this morning and less on qualifying.

“In addition, we ran a technical solution yesterday that Jaime found to his liking, but I took the decision we could not run it for the rest of the weekend, as we had a problem with it. Therefore today, he did not have the same level of confidence in the car.

“As for Sebastien, he has had a less complicated time, giving him greater confidence in the car and he drove well, putting together a good lap, so we can be happy with him for that. What a driver needs here more than anything is confidence, therefore, as we make up for the time lost, I do believe we can be in better shape for the race tomorrow, especially because of the fact we focussed more on race set-up today.”

1972 posts

About author
David is an occasional contributer to the site on matters related to Formula 1. You can follow him on twitter at @Dr_Bean.
Articles
Related posts
Formula 1

2024 Australian Grand Prix - TCF Driver of the Weekend

2 Mins read
TheCheckeredFlag Driver of the Weekend is revealed for the 2024 Australian Grand Prix.
Formula 1

2024 Australian Grand Prix – What the Team Principals are Saying after the Race

7 Mins read
The ten Team Principals reflect on drivers performances at Albert Park during Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix, a race that saw Ferrari claim their first win of 2024.
Formula 1

2024 Australian Grand Prix – What the Drivers are Saying after the Race – Part 2

7 Mins read
Those who missed out on points in Australia reflect on their races, including Max Verstappen, who retired from a Grand Prix for the first time since the same event in 2022.