Sunday: Vergne and Ricciardo score points for Toro Rosso

Jean-Eric Vergne – 8th:

« I am really, really happy as this is definitely my best race of the year while the car performed very well with very little degradation on the Soft and Super Soft tires. I didn’t take too many risks at the start, and I had a good battle with Pérez at the beginning, then with Di Resta and Hamilton. Daniel and I were on different strategies, and both seemed to work.

Towards the end, I was told that my teammate had a problem, but overall, for the team, finishing eighth and ninth, with Daniel who also had a great race, is a fantastic result. Everyone in the team worked very hard to improve the car over the weekend. In general, we seem to be making progress and this circuit seemed to suit us well, which may also be the case in India. What was the best moment of the race? Seeing the checkered flag in the points.

Daniel Ricciardo – 9th:

I had a good start and gained a few positions on the first lap. After that, I had a very good pace and was able to catch up with the cars in front one by one. JEV was ahead and as he overtook a car, I was able to follow him.

The second stint also saw us overtake a few cars, passing Schumacher and the Force India. Then, my last stint on Soft tires was my best until, about ten laps from the end, I found myself going straight at Turn 3. At first, I thought my suspension had broken because the car suddenly pulled to the right and I couldn’t correct it. However, I realized I could continue even though every time I braked the car veered to the left and I was locking the front wheels a lot. Unfortunately, it cost me my eighth place, but at least I could leave it to my teammate.

I remain grateful to finish in the points after such a problem, although it leaves me with mixed emotions, as it could have been my best result of the season. But for the team, it was a very good day.