Toro Rosso posted
its best qualifying session of the year in the wet at
Interlagos yesterday with Swiss rookie Sebastien Buemi setting the sixth
fastest time to claim a starting position on the third row
of the grid while his even younger team Jaime Alguersuari wound
up twelfth after getting through to the Q2 session for the
second meeting in succession. With the Ferrari-powered STR4
benefiting from a new aero package, the Faenza, Italy-based
team was able to carry forward the promise it hinted at last time out
in Japan through to Brazil this weekend and both drivers
were able to benefit from the chaotic and extended qualifying session.
Sebastien Buemi
(STR4-03): “Of course I am happy, as sixth is my best ever
qualifying result. It was a difficult session and I just
stayed in the car, trying to remain focused. Our goal for
tomorrow is to score some points. But with this kind of
weather anything can happen. I would prefer it to be dry
tomorrow, but so far this weekend, we have been quick
whatever the track conditions, so I will be fighting my
hardest if it’s wet or dry.”
Third Practice
Session: Best lap 1.24.443, pos. 7th, 5 laps; Qualifying
Session: Best lap 1.20.250, pos. 6th
Jaime Alguersuari
(STR4-01): “That was not bad and I’m happy with the result.
There was a lot of water and it was easy to crash, so my
priority was to stay on the track, making no mistakes.
Visibility was very bad in these conditions, so I hope we
have better conditions for the race. I think I did the best
I could today. To make it through to Q3 would have required
using the Intermediate tyre, but we gambled on sticking on
the Extreme and the final result is pretty good anyway.”
Third Practice
Session: Best lap 1.26.224, pos. 13th, 6 laps; Qualifying
Session: Best lap 1.22.231, pos. 12th
Laurent Mekies
(Chief Engineer): “Our best qualifying result of the season
with our second consecutive Q3 with Buemi and second
consecutive Q2 with Alguersuari. In Suzuka, we showed we had
the pace thanks to an aero update. Here, the team and
drivers put everything together well in what was a very
difficult session to manage. Sebastien did a very good job
to secure P6 and Jaime also did well to reach Q2 in what
were very difficult conditions. But it’s the race that
matters, when I think we can expect a complicated afternoon.
Today was an encouraging first step and now we must try and
convert it into some points tomorrow.”
