Friday's promise
didn't materialise when it mattered for Toro Rosso at
Spa-Francorchamps with neither Sebastien Buemi or Jaime
Alguersuari making it out of the opening Q1 qualifying
session this afternoon in their Ferrari-powered STR4 single
seaters as their cars struggled for straight line speed. The
Swiss driver was the faster of the two rookies but missed
the first cut off after setting the sixteenth quickest time
after a lap that was two tenths slower than the F1 world
championship points leader Jenson Button. His 19-year-old
team mate Alguersuari was just under a tenth slower in his
Red Bull-liveried car and he finished up in seventeen place
while the other drivers to be eliminated at the first hurdle
this afternoon and whom set slower times than the two Toro
Rosso drivers were Kazuki Nakajima (Williams), F1 new boy
Romain Grosjean (Renault) and Luca Badoer (Ferrari).
Sebastien Buemi
(STR4-03): “I had a good first run on the Option tyre, but
with my second set I had a bit of traffic on my warm-up lap
and I didn’t get my flying lap together. Then at the final
braking point I locked up my rear wheels and so the lap was
spoilt. Even though we knew it could be difficult to get to
Q2, I am disappointed with my performance. Finding the right
compromise on set-up is difficult here between running low
downforce for the fast sections and having enough to deal
with the slower parts. As for the race, we need to look
closely at our tyre strategy as both types of tyre work well
here.”
Third Practice
Session: Best lap 1.46.417, pos.12th, 19 laps; Qualifying
Session: Best lap 1.45.951, pos. 16th
Jaime Alguersuari
(STR4-02): “It was always going to be tough to get into Q2.
We were lacking speed on the main straight in Sector 1 and
Sector 3, but I did a good time in Sector 2. The main thing
for me is that I am making progress: in Hungary I was last
on the grid, then Valencia 19th and today I am 17th, so it’s
getting better. Hopefully, I can work my way up to pole one
day! I still need to build up more confidence with the car
and the tyres in the quick corners.”
Third Practice
Session: Best lap 1.46.814, pos. 15th, 22 laps; Qualifying
Session: Best lap 1.46.032, pos. 17th
Laurent Mekies:
“Not the outcome we were expecting. Jaime did a good job,
making progress throughout the weekend, in what is only his
third race. Sebastien had a very good first run, but
unfortunately we could not repeat it on his second one and
so we slid out of the Q2 zone. However, we feel we have
better potential than we showed this afternoon and we hope
we can demonstrate that in tomorrow’s race.”
