Report Sunday: Toro Rosso – Only positive!

Ten and twelve at the start, ten and thirteen at the finish. The result for the small Scuderia is positive after this first round of the 2011 Formula 1 World Championship.

The two in-house drivers did not avoid certain pitfalls during the race, but still delivered a strong overall performance that bodes well for the future, even though it is understood that a lot of work will be needed to avoid being overtaken by other teams.

Sébastien Buemi – 10th:

Finishing 10th is not too bad after qualifying in that position yesterday in Q3, but I think I could have done better, maybe 8th or 9th. It’s a shame that my teammate and I made contact in the first corner. It’s not the first time this has happened, so I think we will need to discuss it after I review the footage of the incident.

At the end, I wasn’t able to contain Massa, who was faster than me at that moment, but I’m satisfied with this result. We are definitely more competitive than last year and we need to keep improving by bringing new parts to the car. It’s a positive start to the season and we will have a lot to learn from the data throughout the weekend, then we’ll see what we can do in Malaysia.

Jaime Alguersuari – 13th:

I had a good start by moving up to 10th or 11th place, I think. Then in turn 2, Michael [Schumacher] cut the corner and ended up on the outside while I was on the inside. The result is that he hit my front wing, and I had to change it.

«He couldn’t avoid me because I was already in the middle of the turn. This means that I had an additional stop which ended my chances of getting a good result. My car was working well, with a fairly good pace. I am happy to have finished the first race and now we have to look at what we can improve for Malaysia. »

Franz Tost – Team Principal:

A good result for the whole team because scoring points in the first race proves that everyone at Toro Rosso has worked well over the winter.

« Buemi had a good start, but unfortunately, in the first corner Alguersuari hit him and it negatively impacted his car’s performance for the rest of the afternoon ».

Despite everything, Sébastien was performing well and did a good job. Considering the numerous criticisms we heard about the tires throughout the winter, Pirelli must also be praised for their performance here, especially considering that one car scored points with only one pit stop.

Finally, well done to Sebastian Vettel for starting the season with another victory for Red Bull. We can now prepare for Malaysia with the confirmation that we are off to a good start and that we must work to maintain this level.