The Scuderia Toro Rosso team will arrive in Hungary determined to get back into the points after a disappointing German Grand Prix last weekend. Daniil Kvyat had good speed at Hockenheim but ultimately retired with a drive train issue that saw his car catch alight in spectacular fashion, while Jean-Eric Vergne’s race was compromised by a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits.
Vergne had a quiet race last weekend at Hockenheim, finishing down in thirteenth place, and gained a penalty point on his licence from the stewards who deemed he had excessively exceeded track limits. He comes to Hungary desperate for a good result, but knows the Hungaroring circuit has not been kind to Toro Rosso in the past.
“This is an important race as it comes just before the summer break, so if you do well here, it means you can enjoy the holiday more,” said Vergne. “It is a really tough race for the car and for the drivers. The circuit is located in a bowl, which seems to trap the heat and the lap has no straights, so there is no time to rest at all over a lap.
“It can be frustrating to race here though, like in Monaco, as you can find yourself behind a slower car and not be able to get close enough to pass. To overtake, you need to be really close in the last corner to pass down the pit straight and in order to manage that, you must be right on the tail of the slower car for the whole lap, which is quite tricky, as there are a few high speed corners.
“You are always turning, braking, accelerating. Not an easy race and the last two years it has not been a good track for Toro Rosso, so I really want this to change and we will be doing all we can to have a good race. I like the city, which I have visited many times from my days racing in the World Series.”
Team-mate Kvyat retired from the German Grand Prix in a fiery manner and was involved in a clash with the Force India of Sergio Perez that saw the Toro Rosso spin while running in the top ten. The young Russian is looking forward to the event at the Hungaroring, and understands the importance of a good grid position due to the difficulty in overtaking other drivers.
“Hungaroring is on the list of my favourite tracks with its flowing nature and fast chicanes and corners, which you need to attack a lot,” said Kvyat. “That’s what I really love about this track. There’s no time to rest there but I am really looking forward to it. You can get stuck behind slower cars, which is frustrating and that’s why it is really important to get as good a grid position as possible here and start in front of your rivals.
“It can be very hot and from a physical point of view, Budapest can be even tougher than Malaysia because you don’t get time to rest as there are no long straights. It makes for a demanding and challenging weekend. I also like the city of Budapest, quite a lot of Russians come to this race, so I am looking forward to seeing a lot of Russian flags in the grandstands: not on the scale of Sochi of course, but a nice feeling all the same.”
