Sunday: Vergne delivered a superb finish in his Toro Rosso

Jean-Eric Vergne – 6th

To achieve this very good result, the Frenchman had to overcome not only the heat but also two five-second penalties: « It feels amazing. It was a fantastic race, and I am extremely happy, especially considering the two five-second penalties. I had to push as hard as I could in the last laps, and that’s what I did. It was very enjoyable to overtake those in front of me. It was an incredible race. »

Jean-Eric Vergne indeed wanted to make up for his mistake in qualifying that cost him Q3: « I made a mistake in qualifying and told the team I would give everything for them to make up for it today. I am very happy for the guys. They gave me a good car and a 6th place rewards their efforts. We deserve it. »

As he knows he will no longer be in Faenza next season, he knows that his end of the season is essential for his career: « I am confident that we can have a good end of the season together and I look forward to being in Japan, where we will have some improvements. I hope we can do even better. »

Daniil Kvyat – 14th

Daniil Kvyat’s race was marked by the physical problems he had to face and a car that was difficult to master: « It was a difficult race today, where I had to fight more against myself than with the other cars around me. The car was hard to drive and it was sliding a lot. There was a lot of work needed to preserve the tires. »

To make matters worse, the water pump in his single-seater wasn’t working, which deprived him of hydration throughout the race: « Unfortunately, I also had an issue with my drinking system. So I had to do the whole race without water, which made the race even more difficult. » Without this problem, he believes he could have maintained his place in the top 10.