Daniil Kvyat has avoided punishment despite his Scuderia Toro Rosso STR11 failure a post-qualifying inspection test.
The Russian had qualified in ninth position for the Monaco Grand Prix on Saturday, but after inspection his car was deemed to have failed a vertical front-floor deflection test, but after video and telemetry information, as well as hearing evidence from a team representative, no further action was deemed necessary.
Kvyat had hit a kerb hard during one of his qualifying runs in Q3, which made his lap time slower than it had been during Q2, with the stewards revealing that it was this that caused the test to be failed.
“The team produced evidence that the car suffered an impact which reduced the downforce and resulted with a slower lap time than in Q2,” said a FIA statement.
“Therefore, whilst technically the car failed to pass the deflection test, the stewards have decided not to impose any penalty.
“However, the team is reminded that further tests will be conducted and that future failure of the test may not result in the same decision.
“The FIA technical team is requested to further study the telemetry produced by the team and provide a report to the stewards if appropriate.”
After qualifying, Kvyat admitted he was disappointed with the outcome, feeling he could and should have been higher up the grid but for his curb hit, but feels that starting inside the top ten offers the team a great chance of a second consecutive points finish since his switch back to Toro Rosso from Red Bull Racing.
“I’m not happy with my qualifying today,” said Kvyat. “I think I hit a curb hard in the third sector during my last run and I don’t know if this is maybe the reason why we lost a bit of time in Q3.
“The car certainly behaved differently compared to Q2, so we now have to analyse this, because we could’ve finished in a higher position than P9.
“It’s quite disappointing as we know we have a strong car with huge potential. Having said this, I’m confident for tomorrow, we have a good chance of scoring points and we will fight hard for them.”
