Toro
Rosso look set to end the season on an uncompetitive
note as neither of its drivers showed any speed in Abu
Dhabi this afternoon, Jaime Alguersuari eventually
pipping his team mate to seventeen place on the grid.
Jaime Alguersuari:
“It was very difficult today to
make the step from Q1 to Q2, but in the end I think I
got a good lap, improving by a tenth. I would say we
were not as quick as we expected to be here and could
not really attack the Saubers and Force Indias.
Therefore we tried running with less downforce to be
faster down the straight, but it made Sector 3 very
difficult and I had too much oversteer, which meant I
could not attack the track. As for the race, I think
that right from Friday the situation here was clear.
This is the sort of race where you can have a lot of
crashes and retirements, which could give us a chance to
get into the points if we stay out of trouble and do
something good with the tyre strategy. Tomorrow, we have
nothing to lose, so I will start the race in an
aggressive fashion and then see where that takes us.”
Sebastien Buemi:
“I lost quite a bit of time at
Turn 19, as I just brushed the wall on the exit to it,
which cost me three tenths and a place in Q2, so I
cannot be happy with the way the session went. It was
ironic that it was my team-mate who knocked me out of
Q2, but now we need to focus on the race and the car’s
performance has not been too bad overall in free
practice, so I will be trying my best as usual to get
the very most out of the package for the final time this
season.”
Giorgio Ascanelli (Technical
Director): “We seem to
have been around 17th and 18th most of the weekend, so
you could say the qualifying result was not surprising.
I did actually think we could have pipped Tonio (Liuzzi)
at the last moment, but it did not work out that way. At
the time that we took the decision to do longer runs on
the Prime tyre, it seemed like the correct choice, but I
suppose that with full hindsight you could say it was
the wrong choice as Tonio out qualified us doing two
laps on the softer Option. So I was wrong. One cause for
satisfaction at the end of the season? Whatever happens
tomorrow, Jaime is the driver who has completed the most
laps, the greatest mileage this season, including all
running at the 19 Grands Prix, including the Friday and
Saturday sessions.”
Saturday Details, Abu Dhabi: