Saturday: Vergne beats Ricciardo at Toro Rosso
Unusual scenario at Scuderia Toro Rosso as, for once, it's Jean-Eric Vergne who is best positioned on the grid, with the Frenchman even managing to outperform the Saubers and Nico Rosberg's Mercedes. Daniel Ricciardo, on the other hand, was eliminated in Q1, falling victim to the traffic on the track.
Jean-Eric Vergne – 18th and 14th:
« I think the team has worked well so far this weekend to produce a car that seems a bit more competitive than in recent races. Beating my teammate doesn’t mean much today, because he had some difficulties in the first session. Maybe I could have extracted more from the car this afternoon, maybe two tenths. After going over the curbs and damaging my suspension this morning, I obviously lost track time and, without that, I might have had a better understanding of the tires. Despite everything, as I said before, the car seems good, there are plenty of overtaking opportunities here, so my plan for tomorrow is to go chasing points. »
Daniel Ricciardo – 15th and 18th:
« It was a difficult and frustrating session for me. We knew it would take a long time for the tires to heat up, especially since the asphalt is still very slippery. The tires never worked properly because I encountered traffic very early and the yellow flag came out when I tried to do my last two laps. This means I never had a clean lap. It’s one of my worst qualifying performances of the season today, the first time I haven’t made it to Q2 in seven races, so I just want to forget it and have a better Sunday, which should be well within our capabilities. »
