The big surprise in Austin: sixth place for Carlos Sainz!
In addition to his Spanish colleague's fifth place, fans will also remember Carlos Sainz's fine sixth place in Austin. The Toro Rosso driver simply equalled his career-best result with a car that had undergone little development! Eleventh-placed Daniil Kvyat was much further back in the standings, and was given a penalty for a first-lap tangle with Pérez.
A sixth place with the taste of victory for Sainz!
It’s hardly a secret: the Toro Rosso is currently one of the least developed cars on the grid in terms of power unit. Equipped with an old 2015 Ferrari engine without updates, Franz Tost’s team is forced to compensate for its shortcomings with aerodynamic gains. On a circuit with long fast curves, the Faenza car still felt comfortable, despite the long straight between the eleventh and twelfth turns.
But what added value brought on board by Carlos Sainz Jr! Starting tenth, finishing sixth, the young Spaniard (22 years old) was on cloud nine in front of the journalists’ microphones.
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It’s a top result! What a way to motivate the team until the end of the season.
I don’t know why, but on this track, I had a good feeling. I will always remember this weekend. Matching my best result in Formula 1 makes me very happy. This place is even more special than in Barcelona because I didn’t think I had the car to do it here. Our simulations before the race predicted a finishing position between eleventh and twelfth: we ultimately fought for fifth!
The Madrid native benefited from the successive eliminations in front of him. Hülkenberg and Bottas at the start, then Verstappen and Räikkönen during the race. The Red Bull junior driver ran a wise race, managing to overtake Massa’s Williams from the 30th lap, during his last stop under the VSC. After the Finnish Ferrari’s retirement, Sainz found himself in fifth place!
He could have even achieved his best absolute result in Formula 1 without the intervention of his role model. Fernando Alonso passed him in the penultimate lap with DRS.
« I was able to make my tires work well in the first stint. We were a bit lucky with the VSC, which brought us ahead of the Williams. We knew it would be difficult to finish the race with the set of tires, I actually finished the race with a front left tire that was at the end of its life. But we managed to get to the end. »
The young driver’s lucidity was noteworthy, avoiding contact with Alonso. But the respect between the two men certainly played a significant role…
The battle with Fernando was a lot of fun! I know exactly how to defend against him, having watched him run for 12 years…
I was able to keep him behind during those laps until he opened his DRS.
In any case, it is a safe bet that the party was great in this part of the paddock.
I’m going to celebrate this result with champagne, for me it’s like a victory!
P6 for @Carlosainz at the #USGP 👏🇺🇸 Congrats @ToroRossoSpy on a great race and points finish. #Red BullFamily pic.twitter.com/UxByfLwC79
— Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) 23 octobre /f1/actualite/21454-officiel-kvyat-confirme-chez-toro-rosso-pour-2017.html
**A messy maneuver with Pérez was costly for Kvyat**
Positioned in the thirteenth spot on the grid, the Russian had fewer advantages than his teammate at the start. However, he could drive without any second thoughts, having been extended for 2017 by Helmut Marko.
But the former Red Bull driver still got tangled up on the first lap by missing the braking point at the eleventh turn, before the long straight. Daniil Kvyat collided with Sergio Pérez’s Force India there. From then on, his race was disrupted by the additional ten-second penalty he received during his first pit stop.
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It was a difficult day for me. I had a good start but we switched to a one-stop strategy after my ten-second penalty for my incident with Pérez. That compromised my race, it wasn’t easy to make everything work afterwards. I must say though that managing my long stint with the mediums was very good. It’s just a shame not to have been able to fight for more points today.
This American race therefore does not earn him any points, despite his eleventh-place finish, more than 10 seconds behind the last point claimed by Grosjean. In fact, Kvyat’s mission will be to finish ahead of the Frenchman in the final drivers’ standings: four points separate the two men (29 for Grosjean, 25 for Kvyat). As for the constructors, Toro Rosso’s fate seems well sealed with this seventh place within reach. With 55 points, McLaren-Honda seems quite ahead (74 points) and the first pursuer is 26 points behind, in the form of Haas F1 Team (29 points for the American team).
