Toro Rosso on the edge as crucial mid-field battle looms

Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly says the Faenza-based outfit will likely have to rely on others to hold on to its P6 position in the Constructors' standings in Sunday's Abu Dhabi GP.

Toro Rosso only has a four-point margin over Renault and six over Haas as the three teams hope to secure a sixth-place position worth an extra $6.5m in prize money.

Gasly only qualified P17 in Abu Dhabi, while team mate Brendon Hartley will line up last on the Sunday's grid.

Renault's Nico Hulkenberg will enjoy a launch this afternoon from P7, putting Toro Rosso under huge pressure, admits Gasly.

• Ricciardo in no rush to decide 2019 future

"We need to keep the sixth position and at the moment it's out of our hands, really, because we don't have the pace to fight," said the French rookie.

"It's a bit annoying to look at things without being able to really have an impact on it."

Indeed, Red Bull's junior squad will evidently have to rely on luck or others' performance to hold its valuable position Sunday afternoon.

"Hopefully the Force India will be fast enough. I think at the moment the only thing we can do is to pray tomorrow morning for Hulkenberg to finish eighth," added Gasly.

"At the moment I see Franz [Tost] is really stressed, as much as we are, because in the end if we want to be competitive next year, it's really important to keep this sixth position, because it'll have an impact on the development.

"It's a bit frustrating not to be a bit further on the grid, to be fighting properly - starting from 17th, it's difficult to do something, but for sure we'll try everything."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter