An expensive weekend for Scuderia Toro Rosso continued into the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka this afternoon with Jaime Alguersuari crashing out while team mate Sebastien Buemi failed to finish after suffering clutch problems. Both drivers had crashed out of the proceedings during yesterdays final qualifying sessions leaving the mechanics of the Faenza, Italy-based team with a lot of work to do overnight. The young Spaniard this afternoon spun out of the race while exiting the 130R on lap 44 and his Swiss team mate, after almost stalling on the grid, only made it as far as lap 11 before mechanical issues forced is Ferrari-powered STR4 into retirement.

Jaime Alguersuari (STR4-02): "My accident came on the lap after my second pit stop, when I fitted the soft tyres. At turn 15, which you take flat, I lost the rear end of the car and crashed into the wall, but I’m not sure why, as it was inexplicable and I would like to see the data, in case there might have been something wrong with the pressure of the rear tyres or a puncture. I am really, really sorry for what happened. I was pushing every lap and running consistently, in terms of my lap times being almost always within the same tenth. Hopefully, we can have a better race in Brazil."

Sebastien Buemi (STR4-03): “I had a problem with the clutch, right from the start of the parade lap, when I couldn’t get off the grid. We tried to fix the problem by adjusting the clutch map, but again for the real start, it didn’t work. Then, after a few laps the clutch failed and I had to retire in the pits. A real shame as the weekend had seemed promising right from Friday in the wet. In qualifying the car was quick enough to get me into Q3 before the accident, so maybe I could have scored points today. Now we have to prepare for Brazil where the top teams might not bring so many developments to their car. So I hope we can end the season with two good races.”

Franz Tost (Team Principal): “Having come to Japan for many years, I know this is a very expensive country and that was certainly the case for us this weekend! Unfortunately, Sebastien had a clutch problem which meant he could not get off the line at the start and later, caused his retirement. Jaime drove a good race up to the point of his accident. After the second stop, on new Options at the 130R, the fastest corner of the track, which meant it was a very big accident, the cause of which, we will now investigate. Fortunately, he is uninjured, which is the most important thing. The car is a different story, but in Brazil, I expect we will have a competitive package.”