Sunday: Toro Rosso and Vergne could have done better in Sepang
Despite a pit stop accident that earned his team a fine, Jean-Eric Vergne leaves Sepang with the point for tenth place, though it hardly satisfies him fully. Forced to retire due to an exhaust issue, Daniel Ricciardo had compromised his race by going off the track during the formation lap.
Jean-Eric Vergne – 10th:
« It’s good to finish in the points, but it’s unfortunate that a mistake in the pits cost us so much when I could have done something better. So overall, I feel quite frustrated, but I’m pleased to take this point.
After these first two races, we now have a short break before we start competing again, and we must use this time to closely examine how we performed as these two races were full of missed opportunities.
On the positive side, once again, as soon as we overcame our problems, I had a good race pace and managed to gain many positions.
Daniel Ricciardo – 18th:
« I compromised my race even before the start when the track conditions were very slippery and I went into aquaplaning in turn 3. I managed to continue but I quickly went into the gravel and damaged my floor. That probably played a role in the problems I encountered at the end.
I got off to a pretty good start, gained a few places, and was quite satisfied with my first laps. But I didn’t have the necessary pace to keep the two Lotus cars behind me and stay in the Top 10, even though we switched to dry-weather tires at the right time.
As I said, I think the damage during the installation lap affected my overall performance throughout the race.
