Toro Rosso's Key rues lost opportunity in Russia

40

Scuderia Toro Rosso technical director James Key left Sochi last weekend thoroughly disappointed by the team's lack of result.

Max Verstappen was enjoying a good top 10 run when his Ferrari power unit expired a little after the halfway mark, while team mate Carlos Sainz finished a distant 12th after incurring a time penalty for forcing Jolyon Palmer's Renault off the track.

"Max was in an easy sixth place, slightly shy of the Williams pace on the SuperSofts, a bit better on the Softs," Key explained.

"All he had to do was continue as he was doing, he was very competitive and maybe he could have challenged [Felipe] Massa towards the end as he seemed to have higher tyre degradation than us."

In addition to the penaly imposed upon him, Sainz' underperformance was also a case of bad luck.

"In a completely freak situation, Carlos picked up a piece of Red Bull front wing end plate in the front of his left hand sidepod.

"It was sticking out of the cooling inlet and dramatically increased engine temperatures and he had to turn his engine right down.

"It also lost him an awful lot of aero performance which meant he had both much reduced engine power and less downforce for the opening laps of the race.

"It was a huge opportunity missed, because from a car and driver perspective we did everything we could and had very bad luck with both cars."

FEATURE: Hamilton, or when a picture is not worth so many words

DRIVER RATINGS: Russian Grand Prix

Breakfast with ... Martin Brundle

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

Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.