Sunday: Toro Rosso finally returns to the points with Vergne and Ricciardo
By finishing in eighth and ninth places, the Toro Rosso drivers enable the Italian team to double their points total in the constructors' standings, as they hadn't entered the Top 10 since the first two races of the season. Vergne and Ricciardo particularly took advantage of a chaotic first corner at the front.
Jean-Eric Vergne – 8th:
« I am very happy after what was a fantastic race. I hoped to come here and score points on my favorite track… and I did it. I had a very good car today and was able to make some great overtakes.
It’s a shame that I lost a lot of time behind Rosberg, but I’m not going to complain on the day I finally managed to score points again.
I didn’t get off to a very good start, as I hit the anti-stall. This means a few cars passed me, and that’s when I saw there had been an accident. I braked and took a line as close to the apex as possible, and came out without too many problems.
I enjoyed myself today and I think we are on the right track even if it’s hard to say exactly what was better in our car this weekend. We will analyze everything that happened today with the intention of coming back even stronger at Monza next weekend.
The team worked well and the pit stops were good, so kudos to them as well, and it’s great that Daniel scored points too. I leave Spa with good memories of this weekend.
Daniel Ricciardo – 9th:
« It was very fun! We managed to take advantage of the accident that happened immediately after the start, as I approached the corner on the outside. Then I managed to slip inside the La Source hairpin and came out in sixth position. My first stint was on Medium tires and I think I was in fourth place at one point.
However, I wasn’t fast enough on my last two stints, which were on Hard tires, so I lost a few positions. You always want to do better, but you can’t complain about a ninth-place finish and getting into the points for the first time since Melbourne. Hopefully, this will set us on a good momentum for our home Grand Prix next week.