It was a disappointing result at the 2016 Monaco Grand Prix for the Scuderia Toro Rosso squad, with Team Principal Franz Tost believing that they were easily capable of a top five finish, had events gone their way.
Having done all the work on Saturday to qualify in sixth place, Carlos Sainz hopes of moving forward on track or even remaining in that strong position, were dashed with two poorly timed pit stops for the Spaniard, who eventually ended the race in eighth.
Sergio Perez was one of the drivers that was able to come out ahead of Sainz after the first round of pit stops had taken place, and the Mexican was able to secure a podium finish for his Sahara Force India team, a fact that has not gone unnoticed by the Toro Rosso Chief. Speaking to F1i.com Tost expressed his frustrations at the result.
“It’s very disappointing to finish Carlos’ race only in P8, when we know we have a package which has the performance to be at least within the top five.
“The main reason for this result was the first pit-stop, during which we lost two seconds and where Perez, Vettel and Hulkenberg passed us.
“Therefore, Carlos ended up behind this train of cars and couldn’t use all the potential of the car, but he did a solid race and showed a really good performance.”
To compound matters further, Daniil Kvyat had an issue strewn grand prix in the other STR11, starting the race already a lap down following a software problem that saw the Russian stuck in pit-limiter mode.
Later in the race Kvyat had a coming together with the Renault Sport F1 of Kevin Magnussen as he tried to make up lost ground. That put an end to the Monaco Grand Prix for the former Red Bull Racing driver, but despite receiving a three place grid drop for the Canadian Grand Prix for his part in the collision, Kvyat was adamant that Magnussen was the one at fault. Either way it was not what Toro Rosso needed after the Russian had gotten off to such a poor start, and Tost confirmed that the Faenza based squad had expected to perform much better on the streets of Monte-Carlo.
“On Daniil’s car we had a problem with the software during the Safety Car period at the start of the race, where he was stuck in pit-limiter mode, driving at only 60kph. Although we changed the steering wheel, this didn’t help and he therefore was a lap down when the race was restarted. He then had a collision with another driver and did not finish the race.
“We all expected much more from this event in Monaco and we have to be more concentrated in order to prevent mistakes in the upcoming races.”
