Toro Rosso drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne were both pleased with their qualifying performances in Singapore after finishing fifteenth and sixteenth respectively. Ricciardo was particularly happy to see the car improving as the weekend unfolded and hopes to see that continue in tomorrow’s race.
“I was actually happier with my best lap in Q1 than I was with my best effort in Q2, therefore I had been hoping to be a little bit further up the grid, maybe jumping both the Saubers, but this position is not too bad and overall, I’d say we’re making progress. Certainly, thanks to the work we did overnight, the car was better in FP3 than it was yesterday, so I hope we can have another good race tomorrow, on a track where we know anything can happen.”
Meanwhile, Vergne made it into Q2 for the fourth race running and was only 0.075s slower than his teammate on Saturday night. The French rookie revealed the accident at Monza was still affecting him here, making his result all the more satisfying.
“For my first time in Singapore, I feel I can be satisfied with the way qualifying went this evening. Ever since Monza, I have had to deal with some neck pain and I managed that situation well, so that I could deal with all the kerbs and bumps at this track. Finishing within a tenth of my team-mate, who has raced here before is another reason for me to be pleased with my performance, when I consider I was over a second slower than him yesterday. It’s a long race tomorrow, during which I expect to improve even more and I really hope we can make the most of any opportunity that comes our way.”
