Assessment: Bourdais, with Toro Rosso, restarts his season

The logic of experience is respected this weekend in Monaco. Even though Swiss driver Sébastien Buemi was better positioned than Sébastien Bourdais on the starting grid, it’s the Frenchman who did the best job during the race. He will bring back a point, which hadn’t happened for many races. An unexpected confidence boost for the rest of the season.

Buemi, meanwhile, retired following a racing accident. The rookie indeed collided with Piquet in the first corner. An error of youth, as considered by the team principal, Franz Tost.

Sébastien Bourdais – 8th:

It feels good to score a point here, for what can be considered my home Grand Prix since there is no race in France on the calendar. The team worked enormously today. I felt like once again I didn’t have a good qualifying and so I am happy to finish the race in 8th place given the lack of incidents. It’s an important point; it’s not enough but it’s better than nothing! The car was consistent, especially with the Prime tires, even though its balance wasn’t perfect.

« I had to be careful to preserve the Option tires because they had given me trouble on Thursday. I managed the situation well because the car was more unstable and the tires were degrading. Once ahead of my direct rivals, there was no one in front of me to attack, so I settled into a good rhythm to bring the car home safely. I had several close calls, but that’s racing. »

The GP was pleasant and I have the satisfaction of finishing in the points after starting from 14th place. If I can manage to improve in qualifying during the next races, I might hope for better, starting with Istanbul.

Sebastien Buemi – Retirement:

« I didn’t have an ideal starting position and I lost a position to Piquet as well. Then, I tried to overtake him. Like many others, I was stuck behind Vettel, and I thought it was my only chance to come back. I was right behind Piquet, and when I tried to overtake him, he braked, so I ended up touching him in the first corner. I am sorry about that and I went to apologize to him. »

Franz Tost – Team Principal:

« After scoring points here last year, it seems that Monaco suits us. Buemi’s start wasn’t bad, but he was overtaken by Piquet. Our cars had the potential to be faster, but as usual on this track, you end up in the barriers if you don’t have the discipline to wait a little. But, in Buemi’s defense, he did a good job in qualifying and I see this incident today as another step in his learning process. »

« I am really happy for Bourdais, who had a fantastic race, earning a point for himself and the team. This result is good for his confidence. Congratulations to the team for this strategy, led by Laurent Mekies. They changed the strategy a number of times during the race and it proved to be the right choice. »