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Toro Rosso's
Sebastien Buemi made it through to the Q3 qualifying session
for the third race in a row yesterday in Abu Dhabi and the
Spanish youngster will line up on the fifth row of the grid
for the Emirates' inaugural grand prix this afternoon. He
also out qualified both the official Ferrari entries in his
Ferrari-powered, Red Bull-sponsored STR4 single-seater.
Buemi's team mate Jaime Alguersuari will start from
fifteenth spot on the grid after his Saturday's work was
heavily compromised when mechanical issues with his car kept
him out of the day's only practice session ahead of
qualifying.
Sebastien Buemi
(STR4-03): “I was hoping for a little bit better after
finishing seventh in Q2, but I am happy with our fuel load
which should allow us to be flexible in terms of race
strategy. The car feels very competitive, as indeed it has
been for the past few races and scoring points is a
realistic target for tomorrow. The visibility is no problem
so that should be fine for the race and the track is getting
faster every time we go out on it.”
Third Practice
Session: Best lap 1.40.934, position 4th, 22 laps;
Qualifying Session: Best lap 1.42.713, position 10th
Jaime
Alguersuari (STR4-01):
“Taking into account that I was unable
to do any laps this morning, because of a problem with the
car, I think my performance in qualifying was quite
positive, especially as I was not completely happy with the
aerodynamic balance of the car. I was not expecting to make
it to Q2 after not running in FP3 on a track that is new to
everyone. Looking back at my season, I think that getting
into Q2 again shows I am making progress, but I still have a
lot to learn. I hope I can have a nice race to end the
season tomorrow.”
Third Practice
Session: No Time, position 20th, no laps; Qualifying
Session: Best lap 1.41.689, position 15th
Laurent Mekies
(Chief Engineer): “A session with mixed fortunes: firstly
Sebastien made it through to Q3 for the third time in a row
and this is pretty much his level now, being a regular Q3
contender, which is a positive aspect. Managing the session
was more difficult than usual, as both tyre compounds were
very close in terms of performance, needing a longer run to
get the best out of them. We did not help Jaime much today,
as he did not take part in FP3 because of a problem on the
car and then in the afternoon, we had a few glitches on his
car. Therefore, overall, I think he did the best he could
today and we hope that tomorrow we can be competitive again
and bring home some points.”
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