Scuderia Toro Rosso

Formula 1 Team reports for the 2009 F1 season includes race previews, reports and reviews
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Post by Ed » Sat May 09, 2009 2:03 am

Sebastien Buemi (STR4-01)
“In the morning session, we had the first opportunity to assess the new aero components we have on the car for this weekend. It is hard to say exactly how effective they are, as in the morning session the track is green and you don’t know what fuel loads the others are using or what tyres they are on. But the overall feeling is positive and we are going in the right direction. In the afternoon, I had a problem with the rear brake, which unfortunately happened right at the start of the second session, so I lost some track time, before the guys got me out again. It’s not the best way to begin the weekend, but we will just have to deal with it. We will be looking very carefully at Bourdais’ data as well as mine from the second session, then factor in how we think the circuit will improve for tomorrow, when hopefully I can do my best to catch up. The car in this new configuration definitely has more potential, but I think it will take more than one race weekend to get the most out of it.”
First Practice Session
Best lap 1.23.185, pos. 18th, 31 laps
Second Practice Session
Best lap 1.22.571, pos. 9th, 17 laps


Sebastien Bourdais (STR4-02)
“We have a new package here which should give us a greater potential than at the earlier races. Unfortunately, a couple of problems meant we were not able to exploit it fully today. Nevertheless, we managed to complete 60 laps, split 30-30 morning to afternoon, so we gathered a lot of data. Hopefully, we can now work with that to find a good set-up on the car for tomorrow’s qualifying and Sunday’s race.”
First Practice Session
Best lap 1.23.088, pos. 15th, 30 laps
Second Practice Session
Best lap 1.22.615, pos. 11th, 30 laps

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Post by Ed » Sun May 10, 2009 1:25 am

Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying

Sebastien Buemi (STR4-01)
“We were hoping for better than that. Apart from going off the track, I also encountered some traffic in Q2 and I think without that I could have been two or three tenths quicker and been a couple of places higher. Now, we will work hard to be well prepared for tomorrow when they say it might rain, which could be good for us. It’s hard to overtake here, so it will be tough to get up into the points places, but you never know what might happen on the first lap. I have not given up on the idea of having a good weekend.”

Third Practice Session: Best lap 1.21.424, pos. 9th, 19 laps
Qualifying Session: Best lap 1.21.067, pos. 15th

Sebastien Bourdais (STR4-02)
“The car is definitely quicker in this specification, but the times are so close that, as soon as you make the slightest mistake, you are not forgiven. My first run was okay, but I felt I had less grip in the second one. Doing two runs of two laps was the right decision. I had a bit too much oversteer in the slow corners, so I couldn’t carry enough speed, and for a fraction I didn’t make the cut and unfortunately it wasn’t good enough again today.”

Third Practice Session: Best lap 1.21.649, pos. 14th, 19 laps
Qualifying Session: Best lap 1.21.300, pos. 17th

Giorgio Ascanelli: “Here in Spain, we have benefited from the introduction of the “Melbourne” specification package, as used by Red Bull Racing from the first race. We could and should have got both cars into Q2. Everyone else has also made a step forwards, but compared to the others, I think we have made a bigger step, which should have moved us up the scale of values. Unfortunately, this afternoon, we didn’t get it right.”

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Post by Ed » Mon May 11, 2009 1:05 am

Spanish Grand Prix - Race

Sebastien Bourdais (STR4-02)
Retired
“I became aware everything was slowing down in front and I didn’t even have the time to brake before I was flying over the back of my team-mate’s car and I thought I was going to roll over. I’m not sure how it happened although I saw that Trulli had spun and came back on the track. It’s very frustrating.”

Sebastien Buemi (STR4-01)
Retired
“I’m not really sure what happened. I do know that I didn’t get a very good start, so that Raikkonen and Kovalainen overtook me before the first corner. Then, at the exit of the second corner, Trulli spun and I had to brake to avoid him. My team mate did not see I was slowing down and could not avoid me. His car went over mine, I saw his tyre go over my head and that was it.”

Franz Tost: “When you start at the back end of the grid, there is always a bigger risk of getting involved in an accident. Unfortunately today, Trulli went off and spun back on again, forcing Buemi to lift and Bourdais just crashed into the back of him. On a more positive note, the new package we introduced here does seem to be a step forward in terms of car performance. Now we must try and make better use of it in the next few races.”

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Post by Ed » Fri May 22, 2009 2:01 am

Monaco Thursday Practice

Sebastien Buemi (STR4-03)
“It was a good session and we tested everything we wanted to, which is positive. We are still lacking a bit of pace, but the track was improving towards the end of the session, and those who fitted new tyres at that point were clearly quicker, which means there is some potential there. There is also potential in the car, so if we can put all the elements together for Saturday, it should be good. It is also positive that we had no problems with the car and that we didn’t crash, which is always a key to a good weekend here in Monaco. As for the tyres, both types worked well, so now we need to improve our car set-up, even if some of the new parts we have here are also an improvement.”

First Practice Session
Best lap 1.18.695, pos. 11th, 37 laps
Second Practice Session
Best lap 1.16.983, pos. 15th, 48 laps


Sebastien Bourdais (STR4-01)
“The car felt quite good on the short runs, but less so on the longer ones, when the car’s behaviour made it difficult to sustain the lap times. We got through our work programme for the day. We are suffering from a slight lack of pace, but overall we did the best we could in these two sessions. Now we must look at the data for Saturday and the race, because it looks as though we are going to have two different sets of requirements for the short and long runs, although it is not tyre related. This is of course a special place to drive, although today it was a bit of a struggle to keep away from the barriers.”

First Practice Session
Best lap 1.19.255, pos. 14th, 31 laps
Second Practice Session
Best lap 1.17.052, pos. 16th, 48 laps

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Post by Ed » Sun May 24, 2009 12:30 am

Monaco Qualifying

Sebastien Buemi (STR4-03)
“I am reasonably happy with my performance, although I could have made it into the top ten if I hadn’t made a mistake at the final corner. But there’s no point thinking about that anymore. Now we must concentrate on tomorrow, trying to find the best possible strategy. We have seen that our car is much more competitive than before and I think we can aspire to finish in the top eight and get some points. I am confident we can do well.”
Third Practice Session: Best lap 1.16.432, pos. 16th, 22 laps
Qualifying Session: Best lap 1.15.833, pos. 11th

Sebastien Bourdais (STR4-01)
“This morning I was pretty happy with the balance of the car, but this afternoon, I just could not get the car to turn and I don’t know why. I touched the barriers a few times, but there’s a big difference between touching and hitting! It’s disappointing because I think the car had the potential to get to Q3 today, but fourteenth is not so far back, so we will see what we can do tomorrow.”
Third Practice Session: Best lap 1.16.301, pos. 13th, 23 laps
Qualifying Session: Best lap 1.16.281, pos. 14th

Laurent Mekies (Chief Engineer): “Overall our performance shows a bit of an improvement over the last few races. Buemi got very close to making it into Q3, but in some ways it’s quite nice to have a couple of hours to plan our fuel strategy for tomorrow. Both guys got into Q2 in difficult traffic conditions, keeping a cool head. We believe there is still more to come from our car and hopefully that will happen soon.”

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Post by Ed » Mon May 25, 2009 2:08 am

Monaco Grand Prix - Race

Sebastien Bourdais (STR4-01)
Pos. 8th
“It feels good to score points here, at what can be considered my home grand prix as there is no French race. The team worked really hard today. I felt that, again, I hadn’t done a good job in qualifying, so, I can be happy to finish P8, given the small number of incidents today. It’s another point which is important: it’s not enough, but it’s better than nothing! The car performed consistently, especially on the Prime tyre although the balance wasn’t perfect. Then, on the Options I tried to look after them as I’d had trouble with them on Thursday. I managed the situation, as the car was moving more and I had some degradation. Once I got ahead of my direct rivals and there was no one within reach in front of me, I settled into a rhythm, concentrating on bringing the car home. I had several tricky moments, but that’s what street racing is about. It was a fun race, with the satisfaction of scoring a point starting 14th. If I can improve in qualifying in the coming races, then maybe we can hope for more, starting in Istanbul.”

Sebastien Buemi (STR4-03)
Retired
“I didn’t have a perfect start and I lost a position to Piquet, but it was not going too badly. Then I just tried to overtake him, as with Vettel slowing everyone down on the Option tyre, I thought this might be my only chance to get back ahead of him. I was right up behind Piquet, in his slipstream and when I tried to pull out and make my move he went on the brakes and I could not get out from behind him, so I ended up pushing him all the way into the first corner. I am sorry about this and I went and apologized to him.”

Franz Tost: “After scoring points here last year, it seems that Monaco suits us, as once again the ball in the Roulette wheel fell in the Red. Buemi’s start wasn’t bad, but he got passed by Piquet. Our car had the potential to be faster, but as usual at this track, you end up in the barriers if you don’t have the discipline to wait a little bit. But, in Buemi’s defence, he did a really good job in qualifying and I see today’s incident as another step in his learning process. I am really happy for Bourdais, who drove a fantastically good race, picking up a point that is very important for him and the team. This result is good for his selfconfidence for the next few races. Well done to the strategy crew, led by Laurent Mekies. They changed the strategy a few times during the race and it turned out to be the correct choice.”

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Post by Ed » Mon Jun 01, 2009 11:32 pm

Turkish Grand Prix Preview

Sebastien Bourdais: “The Monaco weekend went pretty well, bringing home a point, which is always good for morale, especially at such a prestigious race. It was a good race and I hope we can continue to move forward with this momentum, starting in Turkey. We have begun to get a better understanding of what we are doing with this car, which should allow us to get more performance out of it now. In Istanbul, we will run the car in a way which we hope will provide the key to a good step forward in terms of extracting all the potential out of our package. So far this year, it was often a case of waiting for Friday practice to see how the car would work and then establishing a set-up, but this weekend we will start with a good idea of what we want and that should see us being able to make more progress over the rest of the weekend. It’s always good to arrive at a race track in these conditions.
As for the Istanbul track, it’s fun to drive, even if it lacks some grip. The stand out corner is Turn 8, where you need to have a car that is stable over the bumps which characterise the corner, but Istanbul isn’t just about the one turn and pure performance involves having a car that is well balanced everywhere.”

Sebastien Buemi: “I’ve raced here twice in GP2, finishing on the podium in third place last year, so I have good memories of Turkey. I like the circuit: very modern, very fast and featuring the famous Turn 8, the quadruple left-hander, which is rather special. I have always felt comfortable here, so I don’t have too many worries and I hope that will be the case this year, for my first time in F1. Our car is going better and better, even if it’s true that I’ve had three difficult weekends at the last three races: in Bahrain I was unlucky to pick up a piece of Kubica’s car that got wedged in my front wing, in Spain someone drove into me and in Monaco I made a mistake. At the moment when these things happen, I find them hard to deal with, but afterwards I don’t let them bother me. I tell myself I’m in Formula 1 trying to do the best I can, so there is no point in beating yourself up over what’s happened. I just want to move forward and I hope that, starting with Turkey, things will improve and we can look to score points again. I think that with what we learned about the car in Monaco, we should be able to use all its potential now and Istanbul should provide a clearer picture of where we really are in the order. We definitely need to do better than at the last three races!”

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Post by Ed » Sat Jun 06, 2009 12:53 am

Turkish Grand Prix - Friday Practice

Sebastien Bourdais (STR4-01)
“A tough day and I wish we could have been a bit higher up the order. We are not such a long way off, but there is a little bit missing to put us in the fight. I know that tomorrow will be better, but today we struggled to get the tyres working properly. Usually, the soft is quite a bit better, but today it didn’t bring anything and it was harder to drive with it. In terms of balance it seems like a 50-50 split between oversteer and understeer, but the main problem is lack of grip. Now we must look at all the data and see how we can improve for tomorrow. There have been other races this year where we’ve been a long way back on Friday and then made good progress on Saturday, so we will see…”

First Practice Session
Best lap 1.30.838, pos. 19th, 24 laps
Second Practice Session
Best lap 1.30.295, pos. 19th, 39 laps


Sebastien Buemi (STR4-03)
“My first day in an F1 car at this track was a very difficult one. On the plus side, we had no mechanical problems, so we did a high mileage. That means at least we have a lot of data to analyse to work out why we are slow and hopefully find a better set-up for tomorrow. At the moment, it’s difficult to say where we are, although obviously we are not where we want to be. The main problem today was that we could not get the most out of the tyres. Compared to the others, we are not too bad on a long run, but on new tyres, it wasn’t working one hundred percent.”

First Practice Session
Best lap 1.30.944, pos. 20th, 26 laps
Second Practice Session
Best lap 1.30.629, pos. 20th, 37 laps

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Post by Ed » Sat Jun 06, 2009 11:47 pm

Turkish Grand Prix

Sebastien Buemi (STR4-03)
“We had a very tough time, especially with the soft compounds, as we were never able to get the most out of them. So the best thing we can do now is think hard about the race and ensure we have the best possible strategy. It will be a difficult afternoon, starting so far back and managing the tyres, specifically the inevitable degradation on the front right. Okay, starting eighteenth I’m not really thinking of a points finish, but we will still give it our best shot.”
Third Practice Session: Best lap 1.29.167, pos. 18th,21 laps
Qualifying Session: Best lap 1.28.708, pos. 18th

Sebastien Bourdais (STR4-01)
“All I know is that we lack grip and we are off the pace, even being two tenths off Seb (Buemi.) My first run wasn’t too bad, but I had degradation on my next one. Then we changed the tyre pressures a bit, but it seemed that as the session developed the Option began to work better and I was running the Prime which we felt suited us better. We’ve gone backwards a bit this weekend which is hard to take. In the race, I don’t think the difference between the tyres will be that much and in any case, it’s not just the tyres that are our problem this weekend.”
Third Practice Session: Best lap 1.29.076, pos. 17th, 19 laps
Qualifying Session: Best lap 1.28.918, pos. 20th

Laurent Mekies (Chief Engineer): “Overall, we have been struggling for pace all weekend, especially on the Option tyres, which showed up clearly in qualifying. The two drivers had different tyre tactics this afternoon, with Buemi only running the Option, aiming to finally make it work, while with Bourdais we concentrated on the Prime. We tried different set-up solutions across both cars through the weekend but nothing gave us the pace we were aiming for. We have to look at the data to try and understand the reason. Nevertheless, the weekend isn’t over and we have a long and hot race ahead of us, when we will be pushing very hard to do as well as possible.”

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Post by Ed » Mon Jun 08, 2009 1:31 am

Sebastien Buemi - (STR4-03)
Pos. 15th

“It was a tough but a good race for me, as I attacked as hard as I could. We have to stay positive and today, we looked a bit more competitive than over the rest of the weekend. For me, after the last two races, it was a good experience to finish the Grand Prix today and get more mileage. Now we need to do two things: analyse exactly what went wrong in qualifying and get some updates for the car as soon as possible. We will have to make the best of the next two races, after which we are hoping to have some major improvements for Hungary. We need to continue to work hard.”

Sebastien Bourdais - (STR4-01)
Pos. 18th

“Starting at the back was always going to be difficult. After the start, Fisichella seemed to be in trouble and was all over the place, so I couldn’t take too many risks trying to get past and I lost between 3 and 4 seconds on the opening lap. Of course, I also had to deal with a very heavy fuel load and after that, I had a solitary race. Doing the long second stint on the Option tyre was also not easy. We opted for a one-stop strategy in the hope that circumstances or a Safety Car might help us move up the order. It’s been clear all weekend we were off the pace, but we have to stay positive and think about how to improve for Silverstone, when we can expect to have a few minor upgrades on the car.”

Franz Tost: “After our problems in qualifying, we couldn’t expect much from this race. However, the whole weekend was a useful learning process, regarding how to set up the car. Therefore, we come away from Istanbul with a lot of knowledge, which I hope we can now apply in Silverstone in a fortnight’s time and put on a better performance there. Well done to Red Bull and to Vettel and Webber who did a good job today and have done their best to keep the championship fight alive.”

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Post by Ed » Fri Jun 12, 2009 10:27 pm

PRESS RELEASE

Following the FIA’s publication of the entry list for the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship, Scuderia Toro Rosso would like to make it clear that its entry was submitted as a conditional entry, consistent with those of all other FOTA members.

Scuderia Toro Rosso remains committed to FOTA and fully endorses all its principles.

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Post by Ed » Mon Jun 15, 2009 10:13 pm

2009 BRITISH GRAND PRIXVIEW

HAPPY RETIREMENT SILVERSTONE!

The British Grand Prix is 60 years old this year and Mr. Silverstone has decided to retire, handing the job to Mr. Donington. We look back at some of the things that have made his circuit famous:

• Amazingly, it has never rained over the British GP weekend.
• The most experienced man on the grid, Rubens Barrichello, first competed in the race in 1951. That year, the winner was the Argentinian, Froilan Gonzales. Later he underwent a sex-change operation, moved to Germany where he was known as Fraulein Gonzales.
• The future of Silverstone as the British Grand Prix venue has never been questioned.
• The area around Silverstone boasts more 3 Star Michelin restaurants than any other part of Europe.
• This is Bernie Ecclestone’s favourite race, as he says the facilities are as good as anything you can find in…….Interlagos.
• Facilities are so good, fans never wanted to leave at the end of the race, so Silverstone once employed Eddie Jordan and his Rock Band to play at the post-race concert. It cleared the crowds immediately.
• After the American President visited the race, prisoner facilities in Guantanamo Bay were modeled on those in small hotels in the Silverstone area.
• The British Racing Drivers Club has won several British Business Awards for the way it has managed the future of the race over the past decade.
• In 1986 and ’87, Nigel Mansell was booed by the crowd when he beat Nelson Piquet to win the race.
• The British Royal Family draws straws to see who will attend either the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Finals or the British Grand Prix. The one with the shortest straw comes to Silverstone.
• The award-winning Heathrow Airport is a very short distance from the track and the route is well signposted.
• This race always attracts a huge number of VIP celebrities, some of whom are even well known outside London.
• Plans to build a roof over the main grandstand to protect the crowd from the hot sun are due to be finally approved on Monday 22 June this year.

Now that he’s retiring, Mr. Silverstone will have to spend lots of time in Department Stores with Mrs. Silverstone. Here are some tips to make those shopping trips more fun:

In the Clothing Department, stand in a rack of clothes and when a customer comes along, whisper “pick me, pick me.”
In the Household Goods section, set all the alarm clocks to go off at five minute intervals.
Go into a Fitting Room in the Clothing Department and after 10 minutes, start shouting: “there’s no toilet paper in here!”

Silverstone, we will miss you.

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Post by Ed » Sat Jun 20, 2009 6:43 am

Sebastien Bourdais
(STR4-01)

“We ran the two cars with very different settings: I was fairly happy with mine and when I tried Buemi’s I didn’t like it all, so we went back to our first choice and it was better again, so that gives us a clear indication of which direction we should go in. As for the usual Friday tyre comparison, we’ve got an accurate picture from today’s data. We still lack pace, but it looks better than Turkey and we just have to continue getting the most out of our current package until our major update comes along.”

First Practice Session
Best lap 1.21.384, pos. 15th, 23 laps
Second Practice Session
Best lap 1.20.945, pos. 16th, 36 laps


Sebastien Buemi
(STR4-03)

“I didn’t have such a good day and that was because I did not really find my way with the car set-up on this circuit and the whole thing didn’t really come together for me. I tried a different approach to my team-mate, but I think we will end up going in the direction that he took, as it seemed to work better and that should help me make the best of tomorrow. The tyre comparison went well, nothing went wrong with the car and, looking at Bourdais’ lap time, I think we can be more competitive than in Turkey, but I need to improve a lot.”

First Practice Session
Best lap 1.21.590, pos. 19th, 37 laps
Second Practice Session
Best lap 1.21.668, pos. 20th, 37 laps

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Post by Ed » Sun Jun 21, 2009 12:57 am

2009 BRITISH GRAND PRIX – SATURDAY 20/06/09
NOTHING TO SMILE ABOUT

Sebastien Bourdais (STR4-01)

“I think we improved the car by two or three tenths compared to Turkey, but so did the others. Our car is much nicer to drive and a bit quicker. I felt comfortable inside the cockpit and I think I had the pace to make it into Q2, but the red flag came at just the wrong time for me. It’s a real shame. This is an awesome track and when you get the car set up right, a qualifying lap is an unbelievable feeling.”

Sebastien Buemi (STR4-03)
“It’s been a bad weekend so far, with a few small problems and if you don’t get many clean laps without any trouble, then when you go into qualifying, you really pay the price. It is disappointing that I couldn’t use the quick-shift on the gearbox in qualifying, which cost me at least three tenths and that is a big difference here. But that’s racing and now we will have to see what we can do tomorrow. It will be a difficult race whatever happens"

Giorgio Ascanelli
"We had two reliability issues today, both on Buemi’s car: a hydraulic problem in the morning and then a gremlin with the quick shift, which is why we sent him out again at the end of Q1 to try and identify it. Bourdais did a reasonable job, but he lost his last flying lap because of the red flag. I think 15th was the best we could hope for today. We experimented with various elements in free practice to improve our pace and we were a little bit better today on that front"

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Post by Ed » Mon Jun 22, 2009 1:42 am

2009 BRITISH GRAND PRIX – SUNDAY 21/06/09

Sebastien Buemi (STR4-03)
Pos. 18th

“It was a very tough race and we struggled to be on the pace and now we must try and work out why, as we have been quicker than this earlier in the weekend. On worn tyres especially, the car was very difficult to drive. Nurburgring will be another difficult weekend, but we are due to get some updates for Hungary, which will allow us to be more competitive and perform much better.”

Sebastien Bourdais (STR4-01)
Retired

“Regarding my collision with Kovalainen, he changed line twice. At the exit to Stowe, I was on the normal line and he went to the inside, I moved to the outside, then he moved over so I moved across to the other side and he changed again. He braked early, because he’d only just left the pits on full tanks and cold tyres. I was trying to out-brake him, but he should not have changed line like that. It was frustrating and then at the end I lost water pressure and had to stop in the garage.”

Franz Tost: “First of all, well done to Red Bull for a fantastic job, especially the drivers, Vettel showing incredible pace in the early stages, with he and Webber easily controlling the race. For our part, we were off the pace this weekend and apart from some small technical problems, we were not at the level at which we expected to be. One of the reasons is that we suffer from the lack of new specification aero parts. We will have these for Hungary, when I expect and hope that this will bring us back to the front end of the mid-field.”

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