The Scuderia Toro Rosso outfit had a promising start to the Monaco Grand Prix but ultimately saw both drivers retiring from the race. Jean-Eric Vergne retired for the fourth time in six races while having a strong race in the top ten, and he joined rookie team-mate Daniil Kvyat in retirement who was also in the top ten when he retired.
Vergne was having a strong race and was running well within the top ten when his race began to fall apart around the pit stops. He was handed a drive through penalty for an unsafe release and then saw his car fail on him.
“The race was going well, the pace was really encouraging, I was saving the tyres and the strategy looked like being the right one,” said Vergne. “Then, my engineer informed me about the drive-through penalty for “unsafe release” and finally we had the exhaust problem which definitely put an end to my race.
“It’s such a shame! We had done a great job over the whole weekend, the team was able to give me a good car and I also performed well so I think a fifth place was possible today. Let’s turn the page now and focus on the next race in Montreal, where I will again do everything I can to perform at my maximum, have another great qualifying session and score the so longed points.”
Kvyat’s first ever street race in Monaco ended early while running in eighth before he was brought into the pits to retire. He felt he was on course for points after being competitive all weekend.
“It’s disappointing that I had to retire today, especially because we looked competitive all weekend and had a good chance of finishing in the points here,” said Kvyat. “I was able to hold my position at the start of the race and even move up to eighth before I had to retire. Unfortunately these things happen and I will now switch my focus to the next race where I hope we can carry over this momentum.”
Team Principal Franz Tost was disappointed to see both his drivers ending their races early after running in the points. He has asked the team to investigate the issues that first Kvyat and then Vergne encountered with their exhausts.
“Starting today’s race from seventh and ninth place and retiring both cars is definitely not the result we had expected,” said Tost. “Both cars suffered an exhaust failure. Jean-Eric and Daniil both showed a strong performance today and all weekend, but unfortunately we could not provide them with a car capable of finishing where they would have deserved. We will now investigate the reasons for this failure and hopefully come back stronger at the next race in Canada.”
