Sunday: Alguersuari gives points to Toro Rosso

Jaime Alguersuari – 8th

« I am very happy with this result, especially after qualifying in 18th position. Focusing on the race setup paid off. It was a fantastic race and I want to thank my mechanics who worked very hard after the problems we encountered on Friday during practice. This result is a reward and I want to offer it to them. Even though I had to struggle to get the best out of the tires in qualifying, I feel that I understand better how to use them in the race and it’s definitely the best way to score points. We were able to run at a consistent pace all afternoon; that’s the key to this result and it’s the first time this season I’ve felt that from the car and I’m happy about it. Aside from the good work on the tires, I think the improvements the team brought here also contributed to this result. They worked well and it partly explains why my pace was really good ».

Sebastien Buemi – 13th

« First of all, congratulations to Jaime who had a very good race to bring back some important points for the team. I got off to a very good start, overtaking a few people and maintaining a good pace at the beginning. Then, as my tires degraded, my lap times were slower, and I was no longer able to overtake other cars. Right now, immediately after the race, I don’t know why I wasn’t fast enough. After my first stop, I couldn’t keep up with my teammate’s times, so we’ll look at the data. I’m a bit disappointed, but we mustn’t dwell on it and be ready to try again in Silverstone in two weeks ».

Franz Tost

I think that in the future we should skip qualifying and just save tires for the race! But seriously, today the team did a fantastic job by opting for a two-stop strategy for Alguersuari, making him the only member of the top 10 to have followed this strategy. Jaime demonstrated that he was capable of delivering a great race by getting off to a good start and maintaining a fast pace from the beginning of the race. What was very impressive was the way he defended his position in the final laps. It’s another fantastic performance just two weeks after finishing eighth in Canada. Overall, his performance curve is on the rise, so we can expect more races like these from him in the future. As for Buemi, he was on a different strategy, based on three stops. Unfortunately, he was unable to maximize the car’s potential during his short stints, even though his lap times were close to his teammate’s early in the race. In the championship, the team did a good job by finishing ahead of our closest rivals, Force India and Sauber, reducing the gap with the Swiss team. I must also thank everyone who worked so hard in Faenza and Bicester because we had a lot of new parts on the car this weekend and this package definitely works well, which means we can look forward optimistically to a new busy period with three races in four weeks.