Saturday: Toro Rosso achieves the feat of the day!
In the history of Toro Rosso, the small Scuderia has already made its mark several times with its results. The 2011 Chinese Grand Prix is likely to be one of its standout moments, recorded in the books of STR. Jaime Alguersuari sets a time in Q3 and not just any time as he is in 7th position. His teammate Buemi also makes it into the top 10, being in 9th place. The Toro Rosso drivers were fortunate to be in the right place at the right time, benefiting from the red flag caused by Petrov to maintain their good lap times. They are optimistic, unlike Ascanelli who takes this result with a pinch of salt and with a sense of humor...
Jaime Alguersuari – 16th and 7th:
«I must congratulate the entire team for doing such a good job and making the right choices at the right time. Getting both cars into Q3 is an extraordinary performance! To be honest, we did not expect to be so high in the hierarchy. Seeing the speed of some of our competitors, I think the red flag helped us a lot! »
Tomorrow, I think it will be possible to bring home some good points. I’m optimistic, we have chosen better settings for the car and we were able to do a good lap in qualifying. We are not used to starting this high on the grid, so I will have to be careful to defend my positions well. Tire management will again be a key factor.
Sebastien Buemi – 14th and 16th:
«I am super happy with the result today with both cars in the top 10. As for me, I am just disappointed to have lost two positions in the last few minutes by not even half a tenth of a second. In general, we want to be more competitive than last year. That is our objective. Now, the team can be satisfied and I hope it will be enough for tomorrow so that we can score some points. The first thing to ensure is to finish the race. If that happens, I think it can be a very good result for us tomorrow.»
Giorgio Ascanelli – Team Director:
The race is such a funny sport… At the start of the weekend, our times are not as good as expected compared to the previous Grand Prix, and in the end, we make it to Q3 with both of our drivers. It’s a good thing because the gap in the middle is really minimal. Generally, we don’t take advantage of this since Force India and Williams are better in Q1, but I think this time there were 11 cars within less than 2 tenths, and we were able to be the best, perhaps also thanks to luck.
«Our cars have been reliable and even though what happened to Petrov is unfortunate, I can’t be sorry since it gave us the chance to get into Q3. Will we be able to stay ahead tomorrow? That’s another story… The weather forecasts are stable but if it turns out that rain makes an appearance, being in our position could be a big advantage. I would obviously like to score points, and being 7th and 9th is definitely better than being 17th or 19th! Everything is open! »
