Both the new
Ferrari-powered Toro Rosso STR4 cars were classified in the
points in Melbourne today with Swiss youngster Sebastien
Buemi collecting seventh place on his GP debut just ahead of
team mate Sebastien Bourdais who laid claim to the final
championship point on offer.
Yesterday Buemi and
Bourdais had qualified the new STR4 car, which was making
its race debut this weekend, in 16th and 20th positions on
the grid for today's Australian Grand Prix. A very steady
drive in his first ever grand prix on the temporary track in
Melbourne had seen Buemi collecting the final championship
point in 8th place, with his team mate Bourdais, a former
triple ChampCar title winner in America, crossing the finish
line one place outside the points.
However much later
in the day the race stewards decided to exclude the third
place finishing Toyota of Jarno Trulli for a safety car
infringement and his disappearance from the final
classification promoted Buemi to seventh place where he
collected 2 points, while Bourdais moved up into the top-8
to claim the final championship point. Three points for
Scuderia Toro Rosso puts the Faenza-based team into a
provisional 5th place in the F1 Constructors' Championship,
equal on points with Williams-Toyota, after 1 round.
“First race first
point, so I’m very happy," commented Buemi at the end of the
race before prior to receiving the news that he had been
moved up the order by one place. "Maybe we had a bit of luck
with the accidents, but even without that we were not too
bad and our strategy worked well and I am very happy with
the way my race went. I made a mistake when I was alongside
Massa, hitting the limiter button, but when he put the KERS
on you could really see the advantage it brings. I am
pleased with what happened today because to get a point in
the bag at the first race takes some pressure off. The team
did a fantastic job considering that we have not had much
testing time with the car before coming here. It’s a dream
really and not the result I expected on Friday. It shows we
have a good potential.”
“I had a very tough
first part, as after just three laps, the Option tyres were
graining," commented Buemi's team mate Bourdais, who
finished the race in ninth position, but then gained an
extra place in the classification and with it the final
championship point. "Several cars passed me so the team
called me in and the second stint was not too bad. When the
Safety Car came out, it was clear we had to fuel to finish.
A few more Safety Cars would therefore have helped as I did
a final stint of 36 laps and in the early part the car felt
a bit like a caravan with all that fuel weight on board. I
had a very big moment where I was lucky not to crash and
then I had a seat belt come loose and I had to find a way of
locking myself into position in the car. I think we should
be a bit stronger in Malaysia next weekend.”
"Buemi, first race one point: it’s the start of a good
career, as scoring a point on one’s debut shows the driver
is talented and it’s thanks to Red Bull that he is in our
driver pool," said Team Principal Franz Tost at the finish
of the race this afternoon when Buemi had initially taken
8th place. "He qualified well and with a bit of luck he
might have made it to Q2, so we’ll be aiming for that in
Malaysia. He was up to tenth after one lap and raced without
making mistakes, defending his position, having an
interesting fight with Rosberg. He is on the right path and
I think we have a really good driver in our line up.”