Toro Rosso
Carlos Sainz
"Wow! What a race, I just don't have words to describe it! On the grid I said I wanted to start the race on slick tyres and everyone thought I was completely mad! It sounds like a funny moment now, but when everyone took the blankets off the tyres and my race engineer told me that we were the only ones the supersoft tyre I doubted my decision... When you're on the grid, about to start a race, and you take a tough decision like today's, there's a lot of weight on your shoulders, knowing that you might have blown away a good result for the team... but I then said to myself, c'mon trust yourself, it's the right thing to do! I knew the start and the first four corners were going to be very tricky – and they certainly were! – but from Turn 6 onwards the track was fully dry and I felt confident – the gamble definitely paid off! But today's result isn't only thanks to this decision; it's also down to the pace that we showed in damp conditions. After the Safety Car, I saw myself catching Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes in front and I got super excited! It was just an incredible race, I felt so comfortable in the car today and to finally cross the line in P7 is a great result – I'd like to thank the team for the whole weekend, we can all be very happy!"
Daniil Kvyat
"What a shame, we had a hydraulic failure which still needs to be investigated and therefore had to stop the car. Just before that, we were struggling a bit on the Soft tyre and it was a bit hard to keep them up to temperature... So we were an easy target for everyone who was on Supersofts. It wasn't being the easiest of races, that's for sure! On the positive side, we've shown the performance is there and that we can be strong going forward. We just need to make sure we grab the points when the opportunities arise. In general I'm quite happy, it's just a shame we had a bit of bad luck today but these things happen and we just have to accept them... it's part of this sport! We're working well as a team – and this makes me feel very confident -we have the pace and I look forward to next week's race weekend in Bahrain where we will come back stronger!"
Franz Tost, team principal
"We saw a very interesting and exciting race today. First of all, I'd like to congratulate Carlos for his very risky decision – he was the only car with dry tyres on the starting grid! He drove a fantastic race and crossed the line in P7. Without the Safety Cars, I think he would've achieved an even better result... he certainly would have deserved it! It was great to see how he was fighting with the front runners. Regarding Daniil, he got off to a very solid start and was also able to fight for positions but unfortunately his car had a hydraulic problem. This is something that must not happen when you want to fight for a good position in the Constructors' Championship. Nevertheless, we have a competitive package and I'm positive that we can also score many points in the next races - this is what we will go for with big determination."
