Saturday – Toro Rosso repeats the feat of Valencia!

This time, Scuderia Toro Rosso seems to have truly taken on another dimension. Once again, it successfully managed to place both its cars in the third part of the qualifications. In the morning, Vettel once again secured his future spot with Red Bull during the free practice 3. He finished with the 6th fastest time.

In the afternoon, Sébastien Bourdais was the star with the best time in Q1 to everyone’s surprise before taking 9th place on the grid, alongside his teammate on the same line.

Sébastien Bourdais – 14th and 9th:

A qualifying session after which I can get out of my car and say that I am happy with this team, which as usual did a good job. The car worked well, but we will see tomorrow the strategies of the other teams regarding fuel load.

« It’s been a good weekend so far. I believe this track with its turns suits me better. It’s nice to see your name at the top of a timesheet in Q1. It’s been a long time since that happened! »

Sebastian Vettel – 6th and 10th:

« I am very happy and we can be satisfied with placing both cars in Q3. It is a very good performance. I couldn’t find my teammate’s rhythm. »

I messed up a bit in my last race, but it didn’t affect the result. I think we have a good strategy for both cars and we’ll see what happens next. For now, I’m starting on the dirty side of the track but it would need to rain for it to clean up.

Giorgio Ascanelli – Race Director:

« It’s better than expected because I had predicted tenth and thirteenth times. This is the second consecutive race where we manage to place both our cars in Q3 and they are reliable. It is clear that our drivers are on two different strategies so that Vettel can take advantage of his car’s potential. He is heavier on fuel, and his performance in Q3 should thus be reconsidered. »

« Anything can happen on this track and in the race. We wanted our two cars in different configurations: the fastest driver today, who was Bourdais, has the fastest strategy. »