Scuderia Toro Rosso
STR Salvages One Point From "Tough Weekend"
By Andrew Cutler
November 4 2012
The Abu Dhabi GP weekend must have seemed particularly long to the Scuderia Toro Rosso team, as the squad struggled throughout Friday and Saturday with a car that just would not settle into a 'sweet spot' in terms of balance. As a result, Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne never made it past the 16th-18th spots on the time sheet in any of the Free Practice sessions.
Qualifying would not go any better, as the Frenchman couldn't advance out of Q1 (It wasn't for lack of trying: He spun out in Turn 20 on his final effort) and the Aussie was slowest of the Q2 participants.
Technical Director James Key called the results to that point in the weekend "troublesome" and admitted that there was still too much that the team didn't yet understand about the tire wear rates.
While both drivers pressed gamely on during the race itself, it took the elimination of a few of the contendors who one more normally expects to see towards the sharp end of the pack to put Daniel and JEV into contention for points-paying spots at the finish. In the end, Ricciardo would come home in tenth to claim one point, while Vergne had to settle for 12th.
Here are the team's post-race comments:
Daniel Ricciardo (10th - 1 point):
"I got a good start, although I had to avoid an accident shortly after. My initial pace was quite good and I could stay with Schumacher who was on the Prime, while like most people I was on the Option, but I could not get close enough to pass him. Then, in my second stint, on the Prime, I don’t feel we got up to speed quickly enough and I was struggling a bit with braking. When the second Safety Car came out, we pitted again, which was a good call - originally we had considered a one stop - took on new Options and the fresher tyre meant I had a better pace towards the end. I’m pretty happy with tenth as I was not expecting points after the early part of the race, but I never gave up and kept fighting to the end. In the final laps, Schumacher was closing in on me again, but I managed to hold him off. Vettel behind me during the Safety Car? I looked in my mirrors and saw him go through one of the polystyrene boards, but I have no idea what happened."
Jean-Eric Vergne (12th):
"I started the race from one place behind my team-mate on the grid and finished two behind him. I am disappointed with the way this Grand Prix panned out for me. I got a good start and with some help from others having problems, I went up five places from seventeenth when the lights went out to twelfth at the end of the opening lap. The call from the pit wall to make my first tyre change earlier than planned when the first Safety Car came out was the right one. However, the second Safety Car did not play in my favour so that at the end, Daniel on fresher tyres was able to run at a faster pace. It’s good for the team that he got another point at the end of what has been a tough weekend for us."
Franz Tost, Team Principal:
"Both our drivers got a good start, making up five places each, relative to their grid positions, partly down to an accident on the opening lap. From then on, both drivers did a good job and the team’s strategy choices worked well, making the most of the Safety Car opportunities, bringing Vergne in during the first one and Ricciardo at the second. In the end, we scored a point with Daniel, who managed to get past his team mate, as he was on newer tyres for the closing stages and Jev was not that far behind at the flag. It is good to have picked up another point, as it means we have finished in the top ten in five of the last seven races. It is especially gratifying as this is something of a second home race for us, with many of our major sponsors here to watch us perform well come the end of what has been a tough weekend."
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Stumbleupon04/11/2012 22:06
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consistantly beating JEV now .. JEVE qualifying is terrible!! 
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:11:08:18:22:42 by IndyAndy.
