Sunday: Points for Alguersuari and Buemi at Toro Rosso
The Korean Grand Prix was prolific for the Toro Rosso team. Both its drivers, Jaime Alguersuari and Sébastien Buemi, scored points after an attacking and relentless race.
Jaime Alguersuari – 7th
The reality is that the entire Toro Rosso team did an excellent job this weekend and even since Suzuka, where the car underwent numerous upgrades. In Japan, we didn’t get the most out of these upgrades, but we used the few days between the two Grand Prix to improve them further.
In qualifying, I had a good lap and then today, I wasn’t worried about tire degradation and I think our strategy was the right one, it worked perfectly for us. The car was very fast on the straight, which among other things, allowed me to pass Nico Rosberg on the last lap. I had a bit more difficulty than him in the second sector, and that’s why I used all of my KERS after the first corner to get close enough to him to activate the DRS.
I must say that I didn’t think I could do it, I didn’t expect it, but I gave it one last attack, well helped by a small mistake on his part. Combined with fast pit stops, we were able to achieve this fantastic result.
I am very happy for the team that worked so hard. We are closer to Sauber now and with three races remaining, I think we have a chance to pass them, as long as we continue to perform this kind of race.
Sébastien Buemi – 9th
« I am very happy with my race. Someone pushed me in the first turn at the start, which made me lose four places, and I didn’t really understand what was happening.
After that, I pushed very hard to overtake several cars, both Williams, both Saubers, and both Force Indias, to gain positions. The car was very competitive and very fast on the straight. The pit stops also went very well, and I would like to thank the team for all the work done since the beginning of the weekend.
Now I am eager to be in India because we have a very competitive car and we can score points in all the remaining races. We are only a few points behind Sauber and we will continue to work hard to achieve the realistic goal of overtaking them in the championship.
Franz Tost – Team manager
These 7th and 9th places are by far our best results of the season along with Jaime’s great race in Monza. We owe this success to the relentless work of the guys on the track and at the factory, because without our recent improvements on the car, this result wouldn’t have been possible. It was also the result of strong performances from both of our drivers. After 55 laps, only the top three teams finished ahead of Jaime. He had a magnificent race, with aggressive overtakes, while setting very fast lap times. His battle with Rosberg in the last lap was truly exciting.
Sébastien lost four places at the start and had to fight his way through the pack. He lost a lot of time behind the Force India cars, but once he passed them, he also demonstrated great tenacity to climb back up to ninth place. It’s a superb result for Toro Rosso.
Finally, congratulations to Red Bull Racing for their constructors’ title, following the drivers’ title won last Sunday.
