Eighth place for Jaime
Alguersuari in this afternoon's inaugural Indian Grand
Prix netted Scuderia Toro Rosso another four points in
the constructors' championship to move the Italian team
level with Sauber in the standings with just two races of the season remaining.
After getting both of its
STR6 single-seaters into the top ten Q3 qualifying
session yesterday, the Toro Rosso drivers both had a
poor opening lap to the race but were soon moving up the
order. Buemi however retired with technical problems
while lying comfortably in the points paying positions
but his younger Spanish team mate made the flag in
eighth place to collect four important points.
That meant the team
from Faenza has collected 12 points from the last two
races and is now on 41 points, putting the Red Bull
owned outfit equal with the Swiss Sauber team. Sauber,
which uses similar customer Ferrari V8 engines, has seen
its early season promise dropping off and has only
scored 6 points from the last 7 races. The two teams are
equal on points but Sauber edges it on countback.
Jaime Alguersuari
(STR6-02) Pos. 8th
"I am very happy with
the performance of the team overall as this race was
another good one for us, with a pace that was as quick
as the one we had shown in Korea. I managed to pass
Senna and then Sutil because of this. I was also ahead
of the Saubers and I think this result reflects where we
should be in the order. It is encouraging that we could
out perform the Renaults. Once again the team did a
great job in preparation work, in the sessions and in
the pit stops and it looks like we are on the right
road. I am very happy to have scored four points which
puts Toro Rosso on the same total as Sauber. I am
looking forward very much to the next two races as I
think that if we do a good job we can end the year ahead
of them. It’s a shame that Sebastien did not finish,
both for him and for the team. But I am sure he will
back in the points soon."
Sebastien Buemi
(STR6-03) DNF
"I am very
disappointed with what happened this afternoon, because
I was having a very good race, after an excellent
qualifying yesterday. When the car stopped, I had just
passed Hamilton, I was lying eighth and I think we could
have finished in the top eight. So when you go from that
promising situation, to a non finish with no points,
it’s a bit difficult to take. However, if we look on the
positive side, our pace all weekend has been good,
confirming the step forward we showed in Korea. So now
we have to work hard and keep going in this direction
for the final two races when I hope to be back in the
points again."
Franz Tost (Team
Principal)
"Starting from ninth
and tenth, after one lap Jaime was eleventh and
Sebastien was twelfth. Then they both did a good job,
passing Senna on lap 10 and 12 respectively, before
making another passing move, this time on Sutil, on lap
14 and 15. From then on, Buemi had a strong pace and was
doing quite good lap times until he was sidelined with a
technical failure that we are going to investigate. Once
Jaime was in front of Sutil he was able to up his pace
and did a really good job from then on, as did the team
in the pit stops. The four points we get today means we
have caught up with Sauber, equal on points although
they are officially ahead still in the Constructors’
classification. It means we are also a bit closer to
Force India. We must concentrate for the last two races,
as the opportunity to do well and score more points is
within our grasp. Finally, well done to the organisers
of the first ever Indian Grand Prix, which was an
interesting debut event and suggests that India has a
real future on the Formula 1 map."
