Toro Rosso Review – A Very Frustrating Weekend

The Toro Rosso team had a good start to the weekend with the trials, perhaps to score points in the race as Bourdais was able to do in Australia last week.

The rest of the weekend was less rosy for Red Bull’s team B. Neither Vettel nor Bourdais finished the Malaysian GP after both retired. Vettel could have easily entered the top 12 before retiring, while Bourdais made a mistake, ending his Grand Prix in the first lap.

The Frenchman still has a lot to learn from Formula 1 and needs time to adapt to this new discipline. He admits to being disappointed, but there are still 16 races remaining in the season to showcase his talent.

Sebastian Vettel – Retirement:

I started to experience difficulties with shifting gears and then had trouble with the power steering. All of a sudden, the single-seater produced a plume of smoke coming out from the rear of the car. This usually happens when everything is overheating. At the time of my retirement, I was reasonably well-placed in the race. During my first stint, I had a bit of understeer but more importantly, significant graining on the tires. However, on my second stint, I was happy with the car before retiring.

Sébastien Bourdais – Retirement:

« I got off to a good start, but then I found myself stuck between two drivers. Then at turn 4, I tried to take it on the right. We took turn 5 cold and I ended up on the outside and on the dirty side of the track. When I braked, I couldn’t control the single-seater and I ended up in the gravel… That was the story of the race for me. »

Gerhard Berger – General Manager:

« We did not have a good weekend here even though everything was going well during the practice sessions. Then right from the first lap, we lost Bourdais in that incident. »

« Then for Vettel, we had to resolve some understeer issues in his first stint but everything was going well before he broke down for an unknown reason. We are going to study the car during the day to find out more. However, there are still the Red Bull Racing cars that both finished the race, which could be useful for us in the future. »