Poor pace in the Mexican Grand Prix led to a disappointing result for Scuderia Toro Rosso, as they were not in a position to fight for points, according to Team Principal Franz Tost.
Carlos Sainz Jr saw the chequered flag in fifteenth, but after receiving a five-second time penalty, he dropped behind the Sauber F1 Team of Felipe Nasr to sixteenth. After on the opening lap, he forced Fernando Alonso off track.
This is a very disappointing finish for Sainz after he qualified in tenth. Tost confirmed the Spaniard that a damaged front wing had a negative impact on the performance of the car after an incident with Felipe Massa at turn two.
“This is not a result we expected,” said Tost. “During the race we simply had poor pace and we were therefore not in a position to fight for points.
“Carlos lost some performance in the second corner when he touched Massa and lost his front-wing end plate. From that point onwards he had less downforce, which also had a negative impact regarding the performance of the car.
“Later on, he got a penalty because of an incident with Alonso and this is the reason why we decided not to pit him again, because the end result wouldn’t have improved if we had.”
Team-mate Daniil Kvyat had a similar race to Sainz, after he struggled to climb up the grid. He saw the chequered flag in seventeenth, but due to a five-second time penalty of his own, he dropped behind the Renault Sport Formula 1 Team driver of Kevin Magnussen.
The Russian received the time penalty after passing the Haas F1 Team of Romain Grosjean on the outside of turn twelve at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez and completed the move off track. Despite his finishing position, Tost believes Kvyat drove a strong and competitive race.
“Regarding Daniil, his first stint wasn’t bad,” added Tost. “He ended up getting stuck behind Nasr and couldn’t overtake him.
“We decided to pit him for a second set of soft tyres. From that point onwards he drove a strong and competitive race. For his final stint, we went for a bit of a gamble with the supersofts.
“Just in case there was a last-minute Safety Car, but it didn’t happen in the end. We now look forward to the Brazilian GP that takes place in two weeks’ time.”
