Scuderia Toro Rosso endured a somewhat difficult qualifying run at the Canadian Grand Prix, with both of their cars eliminated from the second qualifying session after a spin for Carlos Sainz Jr and a self-inflicted puncture for Daniil Kvyat.
The Italian team had targeted a Q3 appearance for both drivers, but a less than ideal Q2 saw neither car able to progress to the pole position shootout.
Not long after the start of Q2, Sainz found himself pointing backwards at Turn 1, having dipped his wheel in the grass on the run to the first turn. He was able to avoid the barriers – unlike Pascal Wehrlein earlier in Q1 – but nonetheless could only scrape together a thirteenth placed grid slot, leaving the Spaniard feeling downbeat.
“I’m disappointed with today’s qualifying result,” he said. “It’s a shame because after FP3 we finally got to show some performance and we were definitely in a good position for a better lap this afternoon.
“Unfortunately, qualifying was just full of trouble and the yellow flags disrupted my timed laps in both Q1 and Q2 and I was therefore not able to improve my lap time – I think a 13.4 or 13.5 was possible.”
Kvyat in the sister car fared a little better, though the Russian was ultimately disappointed that external circumstances prohibited him from effectively challenging for a spot in Q3. Pushing hard on a new set of tyres, he hit the wall exiting Turn 9, which put paid to any hopes of progressing to the final qualifying session.
“I don’t think P11 is a bad starting position for tomorrow,” he said. “It’s just a shame that we lost about three minutes at the FIA bridge, as the car got stuck in first gear, which was very frustrating. Because of this, I was only able to do one lap in my final attempt and the tyres were still too cold.
“I also got a puncture as I sadly kissed the wall. Without all of this it could’ve definitely been a better lap, I’m sure.”
