Toro
Rosso suffered a drama-filled Spanish Grand Prix at the
Barcelona circuit yesterday with collisions, drive
through penalties and mechanical issues; however Jamie
Alguersuari successfully survived all the mayhem to
collect the final championship point on offer. The
Spanish youngster, racing in an F1 car in his home grand
prix for the very first time, immediately made up six
places after an impressive start but collided with the
the HRT of Karun Chandok and then was forced to serve a
drive-through penalty. Team mate Sebastien Buemi was
once again embroiled in a collision at the start of the
race and had to dive in for a nosecone change which
compromised his race and he also picked up a
drive-through penalty before eventually succumbing to
hydraulic failure.Jaime Alguersuari (STR5-03)
Pos. 10th
“I’ve got to be happy with
scoring a point, even if my race was a bit of a mess,
with the problem at the pit stop with the front left
wheel nut and then the penalty after my collision with Chandok, but mistakes are part of racing. I was pleased
that I got a very good start as it was important to get
past other cars immediately, if I was going to have a
good race. The backmarkers were very tough to overtake
as they don’t move out of the way that much and they are
really slow. I am pleased with tenth place, even if I am
upset a bit, because it could have been so much better,
especially as our race pace was very strong. Now we go
to Monaco where I know there is more potential to come
from me, as I am still learning a lot and there is more
to come from the team and the car. It will be another
new track for me, which I will need to learn well if I
want to score points again. I feel very motivated about
the next race.”
Sebastien Buemi (STR5-02)
Retired
“When the lights went out,
initially I got off the line well and had a good start.
A bit later, I was trying to pass De La Rosa going down
the left side and he suddenly moved over towards me. We
were very close and the impact broke my front wing, so I
had to come in and change the nose. After that, my pace
was not too bad, but then I got a drive-through for a
pit lane infringement, but I’m not really sure why and
finally I had to retire in the garage with a hydraulic
problem. At least there are just a few days to Monaco
when I can try again to get my first worthwhile result
of the season.”
Franz Tost (Team Principal)
“I am glad that, on their F1 debut
with our team, we were able to give our new sponsor,
Money Service Group their first point in the sport,
although clearly, in the early stages we looked like
bringing home more than that. Once again, Jaime did a
fantastic job, moving up to ninth after the start.
Unfortunately, there was an error at his pit stop when
the front left wheel nut got stuck. This meant he
dropped a couple of places. Then he was given a
drive-through penalty after he collided with Chandok as
he was lapping the Hispania car. He put in some really
good lap times and was one of the fastest in the closing
stages and it was good to get another point. As for
Sebastien, once again he was involved in a collision,
this time with De La Rosa. He had to come in for a nose
change and later, he too got a drive-through penalty for
dangerous driving out of the pit and finally he had to
retire with a hydraulic problem, which we must now
investigate. However, I am convinced he will get a good
race result soon.”
