Sunday: Toro Rosso savors its return to the points
For this nighttime stage in the streets of Singapore, Toro Rosso secured points with a 9th place finish by Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo. His teammate, Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne, was firmly anchored in the Top 10 until a collision with Michael Schumacher forced him to retire. Despite this, the Italian team is satisfied with today's performance and the good management of the race circumstances.
Daniel Ricciardo – 9th:
« It’s great to be back in the points, and it gives us a good start for the second half of the season after the summer break. We haven’t always scored points in the last races, but we can take satisfaction in having fought for them. I’m actually happy about that! We benefited from the safety car, but afterwards, we had to fight against the guys behind us, so I’m satisfied with this place, especially with my battle against Webber towards the end, even though I couldn’t keep Massa behind me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t hold off Massa because in the last laps, I didn’t look in my mirrors; I just wanted to maintain good lap times and keep going until the flag. »
Jean-Eric Vergne – Retirement:
« Our strategy worked very well and we took advantage of the safety car’s entrance. My pace was very good, I was going as fast as the drivers in front, and it was much better than we expected. Overall, I am very satisfied with the weekend as I have improved since Friday evening. The team also did a great job over the past three days regarding the development of the car.
Regarding my accident, I was focused on overtaking Pérez, trying to brake later to catch up with him, so I’m not quite sure what happened, but I guess Michael also braked later and therefore couldn’t avoid me.
There was no reason to get angry, it’s a racing incident and it happens even to the most experienced on the grid. He apologized and the incident is over.
