Toro Rosso: Sainz and Kvyat score early points

The Toro Rosso drivers followed up their good qualifying performances in Melbourne with 8th and 9th positions for Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat.

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Rédigé par Par

The 2016 season ended with a double retirement in Abu Dhabi. With the scores reset, the two drivers start off with six points earned at the conclusion of the Australian Grand Prix. This weekend and these points bode well for a good start and a relatively competitive car.

Carlos Sainz, who finished eighth, was satisfied with this introduction with the new generation of cars. However, the race was challenging for him, losing a position after his first stop. He then experienced a drop in tire temperature, reducing his performance for a while.

With this new generation of cars, we don’t really know what to expect. Finishing in 8th position is a decent result. So I’m happy about that. It’s a shame because shortly after the pit stop we lost a position to Pérez (7th). After letting Daniil and the two Mercedes pass, I started having problems with the tire temperature. And it took a little while to get back to the right pace.

The Spaniard, towards the end of the race, caught up with the exhausts of Sergio Pérez’s Force India. He was convinced that he could have attempted an overtake with a few more laps.

« Towards the end of the race, I started to be fast again and caught up with the Force India. I was close enough to overtake him, if there had been more laps, I could have tried. »

However, from a global perspective, Carlos Sainz was pleased with the team’s performance, which bodes well for the future.

This weekend was undeniably a real boost for the whole team. Having both cars in Q3 and ultimately scoring points is a good start. Now we need to make sure we continue this momentum.

The enthusiasm was also present for Daniil Kvyat with this 9th place. Even though he could have hoped for 8th place or even 7th, without an additional pit stop towards the end of the race to inject air into his car (probably due to a cooling issue). This incident occurred twice during the race according to Franz Tost.

What a beautiful race! It’s a shame we had to make an extra stop during the last laps. Without that, the 7th position was possible, and we would have fought for it.

The Russian knows that this result is the effort of his entire team and did not forget to mention it in his remarks.

The team did a fantastic job throughout the weekend. I am thrilled about that. We need to keep working and fighting for more points like today. (…) In any case, it’s a good way to start the season by showing solid pace with both cars in the points.

The former Red Bull driver also wanted to thank his coach, noting that the race had been physically tough. These new single-seaters demand much more from the drivers.

« Physically speaking, it wasn’t an easy race but I felt good. I thank my coach for that. We worked well throughout the winter. »

The 2017 season is off to a good start for the Faenza team, despite minor issues. The battle is likely to rage in the middle of the pack to get into the points, and every good weekend will be welcome for them.

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