Toro Rosso
Carlos Sainz
"How disappointing, this wasn't the way I wanted to end my time with Toro Rosso, that's for sure! I'd like to say sorry to the whole team for retiring on the first lap... I was trying to risk everything at the start to try and gain some positions, so I went around the outside at Turn 6 and I found a lot more dust on the track than I was expecting, and lost it; as simple as that. It's a shame, because I was really looking forward to finishing on a high here in Suzuka with the team but I'm going to remain positive: these three years here have been absolutely amazing – it's been an ideal preparation for me; the driver I am today, compared to the driver I was in 2015, is a more complete and better one, and this is thanks to Toro Rosso, who are a great group of professionals who have helped me a lot to become the driver I am today. It's going to be quite emotional leaving the track tonight..."
Pierre Gasly
"It was quite a difficult race, I'm a bit disappointed. The overall pace was not great today, and I was struggling quite a bit with the car. I still tried to do my best and, at one point, I was doing well to keep behind a Haas, but as soon as I started to close the gap it became too difficult to stay behind or try to overtake. Then, after a massive lock-up, we had to pit earlier than expected... so definitely not an easy one, that's for sure, but we'll keep pushing! We now have to analyse today's race and try to improve the overall performance."
Franz Tost, team principal
"A very frustrating and difficult weekend for us. Carlos had to start today's race from the back of the grid because we had to change the complete Power Unit. He then went off half-way through the first lap and this meant that his race was over, unfortunately. Pierre started from P14 and was close to scoring a point, but we had to end up doing an extra pit-stop, which meant that, in the end, he finished in P13. The positive is that he finished the race and continued to gain experience at the wheel of the car. Generally, our pace over the weekend was not at the level we expected but, hopefully, we can improve in the next couple of back-to-back races in two weeks' time."
