Saturday: Toro Rosso disappointed not to be in Q3
Before race control decided to bring out the red flag in Q2, Ricciardo and especially Vergne were in a good position on the starting grid. But the Toro Rosso drivers could not maintain their advantage when qualifying resumed, Ricciardo because of the yellow flag and Vergne due to not being able to complete a second lap.
Daniel Ricciardo – 17th and 14th [12th on the grid]:
« It was a very tricky and long session with conditions similar to last year when I made my Formula One debut at this race. Unfortunately, after the restart, I couldn’t stay in the Top 10 where we were before the red flag. I’m sure the yellow flag caused by Grosjean in the last lap penalized me because without it I could have made it to Q3.
Our pace is better than our positions suggest, therefore, as I said on Friday, if we have a race in the rain, which seems likely, I think we can do well tomorrow while I won’t give up during the race.
The car seems to perform well on wet conditions, but starting from the middle of the pack, there will be a lot of spray, so there are pros and cons to racing in the rain.
Jean-Eric Vergne – 15th and 16th [23rd on the grid]:
« It could have been really good qualifying and it was going well until the red flag. I was 4th at that moment, but I knew it would restart with better track conditions and I would have to start over from scratch. The red flag was certainly the right decision because there was too much water for the tires to handle. However, at the restart, we considered using Intermediate tires before deciding at the last minute to use Wet tires and I think I could have been higher in the rankings except I missed the opportunity for a second lap because of the checkered flag. I’m disappointed as I thought I could make it to Q3 today. I hope we have a wet race tomorrow because even though I’m starting from the back, anything is possible in these conditions and I hope I can make the most of our car’s good performance in the wet to have a good race. »
