Saturday: Bourdais beaten again by Buemi at Toro Rosso

The Toro Rosso team has been in trouble since the start of the Grand Prix on Friday, and has been unable to find the optimal settings for the STR4.

Sébastien Buemi was trailing all weekend during free practice but finally qualified 18th, figuring out how to optimize his soft tires at the right moment.

Sébastien Bourdais, for his part, was two-tenths ahead of his teammate in all free practice sessions. But in qualifying, the man from Le Mans once again lacked pace. He had opted for hard tires, and due to a lack of grip, he will start last in the Turkish Grand Prix. The disappointment is there…

Sébastien Buemi – 18th and 18th:

« We did a very good time, especially with the soft tires. We had never managed to get the best out of them before. So the best thing we can do now is to focus on the race and make sure to have the best possible strategy. »

« It will be a difficult afternoon starting from so far back and managing tire degradation, especially the front ones. Okay, starting 18th, I’m not expecting to get into the points, but you never know! »

Sébastien Bourdais – 17th and 20th:

« All I know is that we’re lacking grip and we’re not in the game, even if I’m two tenths behind Seb (Buemi), it doesn’t change anything. »

« My first attempt wasn’t so bad but my tires degraded in the next one. We changed the tire pressure a bit but it seems that the more we progressed through the session, the better the Option tires worked, while I was using the Primes which suited me better. »

« We took a step back this weekend, and it’s hard to deal with. In the race, I don’t think the difference between the tires will be that big, and in any case, the tires are not the cause of all our problems this weekend.

Laurent Mekies – Chief Engineer:

« We searched for performance all weekend, especially with the soft tires, which clearly showed improvements in qualifying. Our two drivers had different tire strategies this afternoon; with Buemi staying on the soft tires and managing to optimize them, while Bourdais remained on the hard tires.

« We tried different settings on the car, but none really gave us what we wanted. We need to analyze the data and understand the reasons. The weekend is not over yet, and we are going to push very hard tomorrow to do our best! »