Toro Rosso: Sainz Smiles, Verstappen Grimaces
Carlos Sainz maximized the potential of his Toro Rosso during qualifying and will start from an encouraging 8th place tomorrow. Max Verstappen, who was quick during Free Practice, never found the right rhythm and will have to settle for 13th position.
Saturday evening, after the qualifying session for the British Grand Prix, satisfaction only spread to one side of the Toro Rosso garage: that of Carlos Sainz, who secured a strong 8th place. He can hope to score good points in the race tomorrow. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen dropped out in Q2 and will only start 13th, between the two Lotus cars.
Carlos Sainz, who notably claimed the scalp of Daniel Ricciardo this Saturday, was visibly over the moon after the qualifying: « I’m happy, I really enjoy this circuit! We did our best today and I don’t think we could have gotten more out of the car. We’ve looked strong all weekend and I’ve been optimistic all along. I am satisfied with today’s 8th place. »
On the other hand, Max Verstappen will start five places behind his teammate. The disappointment is all the more bitter for the Dutchman when we know he was fast during all the Free Practice sessions: « Honestly, I don’t really know what happened during qualifying, because we were very competitive all weekend, and then, when Q1 started, I suffered from oversteer and the balance of my car didn’t suit me. So, in the end, I wasn’t able to put everything together to make a lap. (…) It’s disappointing because I was really looking forward to this qualifying, but the car didn’t behave as I had hoped and there was nothing I could do about it. »
The Toro Rosso cars appeared fast on long runs during Free Practice. It remains to be seen if they can capitalize on this advantage during the race.
