Toro Rosso juniors upbeat but Canadian challenges loom

Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz will be in full rookie mode in Montreal as neither Toro Rosso hopeful has ever raced at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, which will pose some interesting challenges of its own to both team and drivers next weekend.

Confronted with the same Renault power unit and reliability issues which have plagued the senior Red Bull squad, Toro Rosso has nevertheless acquitted itself remarkably well in the first six races of the season as its young pupils continue to learn the ropes of Grand Prix racing.

Only once, in China, have both drivers failed to secure a spot in Q3 while Sainz and Verstappen even out qualified their seniors in Barcelona. But the venue of the Canadian Grand Prix will definitely offer the youngsters their fair amount of difficulties.

On the back of his spectacular and controversial exit of the Monaco Grand Prix, Max Verstappen will be seeking first and foremost a clean race and an opportunity to score some points.

"I'm feeling fine now after the unfortunate end to the Monaco Grand Prix and there are no after affects from the crash," said the Dutchman. "I even spent a day karting afterwards so everything is fine on the physical side. Canada will be a challenging race for us with its long straights, but I think we can have another strong weekend anyway. It will be the first time for me in Canada and I've heard a lot of great things about the circuit, the city and the country so I'm looking forward to it."

Carlos Sainz Jr., who has out qualified his team mate four to two since Australia, racked in a single point in Monaco, which in itself was a fairly remarkable feat given the Spaniard had started from the pitlane. His first focus will be on achieving a good result in qualifying in order to try and make life in the race a little more easier than in Monte-Carlo.

"Canada will be another completely new track for me. It's a semi-street circuit and like the last venue in Monaco, you can get very close to the walls at the side of the track. I was in Montreal last year, as I went to watch the Grand Prix, and I really enjoyed spending time in the city, which I liked a lot and the track itself looks very interesting. I'm looking forward to my first experience of driving the track, which looks as though it provides some good overtaking opportunities. We will again have the Soft and Supersoft tyres and we can expect high degradation, so it could be a challenging weekend on that front."

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