Sunday: A point for Toro Rosso after a difficult weekend
Scuderia Toro Rosso did not put all its eggs in one basket this Sunday in Abu Dhabi, which earned them a point: Daniel Ricciardo was able to take advantage of new Soft tires, fitted during the second safety car intervention, in the final laps to fend off Michael Schumacher, overtaking Jean-Eric Vergne, who had taken advantage of the first neutralization to change his tires for the first time.
Daniel Ricciardo – 10th:
« I got off to a good start, even though I had to avoid an accident right after. My initial pace was quite good and I was able to stay with Schumacher who was on Mediums, while most were on Soft tires, but I couldn’t get close enough to overtake him. And then in my second stint, on Medium tires, I don’t think we got up to speed quickly enough and I was having a bit of trouble with the brakes.
When the safety car came out for the second time, we stopped again, which was a good decision – initially, we had considered a one-stop strategy -, we put on new Soft tires and the fresher rubber allowed us to have a better pace towards the end. I’m quite happy with this 10th place since I didn’t expect to score points after the start of the race, but I never gave up and kept fighting until the end.
In the final laps, Schumacher was closing in on me again, but I managed to hold him off. What happened to Vettel behind me during the neutralization? I looked in my mirrors and saw him go through one of the polystyrene panels, but I have no idea what happened.
Jean-Eric Vergne – 12th:
I started the race one place behind my teammate on the grid and finished two positions behind. I am disappointed with how this Grand Prix turned out for me. I got a good start and, with the problems of others, I gained 5 places, from 17th when the lights went out to 12th at the end of the first lap.
The decision by the pit wall to anticipate my first tire change when the safety car came out was the right one. However, the second safety car didn’t play in my favor, to the point that at the end, Daniel, on fresher tires, was able to drive faster. It’s good to see the team score another point at the end of what has been a tough weekend for us.
