Toro Rosso
Carlos Sainz
“It wasn’t the best of races… Starting from P15 because of the three position grid penalty meant it was never going to be easy, but we had a good start and the first part of the race wasn’t’ that bad. We were able to overtake quite a few cars, make a good recovery and get very close to the points positions, racing in P11. It even looked like another comeback was possible, but we lost quite a lot of time during our first pit-stop, and that cost us the places we had gained earlier out on track. From then onwards we were unfortunately stuck in P14, which is definitely not where we wanted to be. I’d say it’s not the perfect way to end the first half of the season but in general I’m happy with my performance so far this year – now it’s time for a well-deserved break but I can’t wait to go back racing again in a few weeks’ time!”
Daniil Kvyat
“Our race pace was a bit more consistent today and we had some good laps, even though we were missing a bit of grip and power in the straight lines. It was therefore difficult to battle the other guys ahead of us and it was a tough race, where we ended quite far away from the points. We now need to see where we can improve, try and maximize our strong points and come back stronger for the second part of the season…today’s pace is not enough. I will now use the summer break to recharge my batteries and come back as fresh as possible for the next races.”
Franz Tost, team principal
“Definitely not the way we wanted to end the first half of the season… If I say the truth, we were hoping for a better result today – in the end, we didn’t score any points while our direct competitors did. We lost some time during our pit-stops and, even though the drivers were fighting hard, the car just didn’t have the pace to finish in the top ten. As we scored points in nearly all the last races, we need to investigate why it wasn’t possible to do the same today. Having said that, I’m positive that we can be back in the points in the second half of the season. We just need to continue working hard. The summer break will be very useful for everyone and I expect the team to be refreshed and fully motivated to kick-off the second half of the year at Spa and at our home race in Monza.”
