Scuderia Toro Rosso

Formula 1 Team reports for the 2009 F1 season includes race previews, reports and reviews
Ed
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Post by Ed » Mon Aug 31, 2009 1:01 am

Belgian Grand Prix - Race

Sebastien Buemi (STR4-03)
Pos. 12th
“I drove a consistent race, making no mistakes and everything on the car worked well. It’s a shame I could not pass Kovalainen, even though I was quicker than him, but at least I tried. Maybe a one stop strategy would have worked better for me. I wasn’t involved in the first lap accident, but maybe I picked up some debris, as for several laps my front wing did not seem to be working and I tried driving over the kerbs to shake it loose and eventually it got better. Overall, I think I had a good race and I hope that we do so again in Monza running in a low downforce configuration.”

Jaime Alguersuari (STR4-02)
Retired
“My race didn’t last long. These things happen in racing and you just have to accept it. My start was not too bad and the car seemed to be going well. At Turn 2, Jenson spun and Hamilton had to move to the left to avoid him, moving onto the part of the track that I was on. We collided and my car was too damaged for me to continue. Hopefully we can do better in the coming races.”

Franz Tost: “Jaime’s race was over at the second corner due to a collision with Hamilton. Sebastien had a good start, lying eleventh on lap 2 and had a good first stint. In the second part of the race, he got stuck behind Kovalainen and we decided to bring him in early for the second stop, but by then the race had got away from us. It proves yet again that it’s important to qualify well to get a good race result.”

Ed
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Post by Ed » Sat Sep 12, 2009 12:43 am

Italian Grand Prix - Friday Practice

Sebastien Buemi (STR4-03)
“We had a good day, running trouble free in both sessions. Now, we just need to find a bit more speed for tomorrow, when we will have a new engine, so let’s wait and see what we can do. It’s nice to drive at such a high speed track, because it gives you a different feeling, hitting speeds you never see anywhere else.”

First Practice Session
Best lap 1:24.703, pos. 6th, 35 laps
Second Practice Session
Best lap 1:24.884, pos. 10th, 44 laps


Jaime Alguersuari (STR4-02)
“I found it quite tough driving today for the first time, with this low downforce package, as I had no experience of that so far in F1. But that’s a good thing, as it is all part of my learning experience. I felt I got an understanding of how to drive the car on new and old tyres and with high and low fuel loads and I had a good feeling in the car. We have a reasonable set-up on the car, but I think we can improve it still further tomorrow.”

First Practice Session
Best lap 1:25.742, pos. 17th, 30 laps
Second Practice Session
Best lap 1:25.003, pos. 15th, 34 laps

Ed
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Post by Ed » Sun Sep 13, 2009 1:09 am

Italian GP Qualifying

Sebastien Buemi (STR4-03)
“I did the best I could, but the session did not go well for me. I was held up by Hamilton, who did not know I was there. Another lap for me might have made a bit of a difference, but not much. As for Glock saying I held him up, I don’t think I did, as I was just trying to rebuild a gap after being slowed by Hamilton. They say it might rain tomorrow, so now we need to work out the best strategy for whatever conditions we might encounter in the race.”

Third Practice Session: Best lap 1.24.572, pos. 15th, 23 laps
Qualifying Session: Best lap 1.24.220, pos. 19th

Jaime Alguersuari (STR4-02)
“I was not expecting much from this session, after problems in the morning with my gearbox meant I only did ten laps in free practice. Because of that, I did not have the time to try much in terms of setting up the car. Therefore, we carried over some unknown factors into qualifying and I have to say, I am still getting used to driving the car in this low downforce configuration. I hope I can still have a good race tomorrow and to be honest, I hope it rains.”

Third Practice Session: Best lap 1.25.791, pos. 19th, 10 laps
Qualifying Session: Best lap 1.24.951, pos. 20th

Giorgio Ascanelli: “Today, we ended up where we deserved to be.”

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Post by Ed » Mon Sep 14, 2009 12:35 am

Sebastien Buemi (STR4-03)
Retired
(On hearing a message from the pit wall, Buemi followed the Safety Car
into pit lane, therefore he did not take the chequered flag, so he is
classified as retired.)

“Starting from the back, the race is never easy, but I feel my lap times were good and consistent, especially in the second stint, so I am reasonably happy. From now on, we go to tracks that are a bit slower and more technical than here, running with more downforce. Let’s see if that works better for us. Some teams have made good progress recently, so we must see if we can manage to close the gap.

Jaime Alguersuari(STR4-02)
Retired lap 20
“I started from the pits, so at least I kept out of the trouble on the opening lap. After that my race was going okay and I was up behind Buemi. But then I had a gearbox problem which caused my retirement. I’d also had some other troubles on Friday and when a weekend starts badly it often ends badly. I’m very disappointed not to finish, as it is very important for me to do as many kilometres in the car as possible.

Franz Tost: “The race was a good lesson for Buemi, as he finished the race, pulled off a good overtaking move on Fisichella and, especially in his second stint on Option tyres, his performance level was good. Alguersuari had a gearbox problem, so we called him in to retire. The positive aspect of this weekend is that both drivers are learning and improving.”

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Post by Ed » Sat Sep 26, 2009 9:49 am

Singapore Grand Prix - Friday Practice

Sebastien Buemi (STR4-03)

“It has been more or less what I expected from my first time driving here at night, with no problems in terms of visibility, although you have to be very careful in judging your braking points. The track is more like Monaco than Valencia, with some bumps and tight corners. It is a difficult circuit, made more complicated by the heat. The track offered very little grip today, but it will improve as it rubbers in. I felt more comfortable in the second session, having learned the track in the morning. The last few races have not been too good for us, so I hope we can make a step forward here.”

First Practice Session
Best lap 1.51.643, pos. 13th, 28 laps
Second Practice Session
Best lap 1.50.527, pos. 17th, 29 laps


Jaime Alguersuari (STR4-02)

“Today was doubly difficult for me, as this is a street circuit and it is also new to me. Tyre degradation was my main problem, caused by the high temperatures, so I would find myself going from understeer to oversteer. It’s been tough, as the easiest thing to do here is to crash and I’ve worked hard to stay on the track. Every run I get a bit better, so I hope I can make good progress before the race. As for it being my first time driving under floodlights, it was no problem.”

First Practice Session
Best lap 1.53.232, pos. 19th, 25 laps
Second Practice Session
Best lap 1.51.423, pos. 20th, 31 laps

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Post by Ed » Sun Sep 27, 2009 5:11 am

2009 SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX – SATURDAY 26/09/09

A reasonably good session, if still not good enough for Q3. But planning for the future is important and here our 2 drivers enjoy practicing their microphone technique for an eventual appearance in an FIA Top Three Qualifiers Press Conference.


Sebastien Buemi (STR4-03)
“I am quite happy, as the session went smoothly without any mistakes. I got the most I could out of the car and am pleased to have got ahead of Trulli. I’m glad to finally be back in Q2. as it’s been a long time. Now we need to work on a race strategy, make a good start and run the pit stops well.”

3rd Practice Session
1.48.754, pos. 9th, 17 laps
Qualifying Session
1.47.369, pos. 14th

Jaime Alguersuari (STR4-02)
“We did quite well and we’re getting faster. It was quite difficult to do better than that, but I am feeling more comfortable with the track every time I get in the car. This has been the hardest track I have driven apart from Macau. With it being a street circuit, anything could happen tomorrow, so hopefully I can have a good race.”

3rd Practice Session
1.49.399, pos. 18th, 17 laps
Qualifying Session
1.48.340, pos. 17th

Laurent Mekies (Chief Engineer)
“We had a very difficult Friday and made a major change to the car set-up overnight, which seems to have been a step in the right direction. Sebastien and Jaime also improved their performance. Jaime has got better throughout the weekend on a track that is difficult to learn and Sebastien is back in Q2 after a gap of a few races. We’re still not where we want to be, but having made a good step forward from Friday to today, there is still room to make another one for the race, which is likely to be very chaotic, so anything can happen.”

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Post by Ed » Mon Sep 28, 2009 1:28 am

Singapore Grand Prix - Race

Sebastien Buemi (STR4-03)
Retired
“The start was good for me as I got past Kimi and was going well, but towards the end of the first run, I began to suffer with tyre degradation. The first pit stop went well and I rejoined in P12. After that the Safety Car came out, bunching up the field. I was behind Kimi again and pushing hard until my second pit stop, when we had a big problem as no fuel went in and I had to come in again. Finally, I had an issue with the gearbox which meant I had to stop. I am very disappointed that we had reliability problems in a race where we might have got a good result.”

Jaime Alguersuari (STR4-02)
Retired
“It would have been difficult for me to do better today, as conditions in the race in terms of the track and the heat were very tough. I ran at my own pace and then I was stopped with a brake problem. Now we go to Suzuka where I hope to do better and finish the race with no technical issues.”

Franz Tost: “Both drivers got an okay start, Buemi moving up to twelfth and Alguersuari was fourteenth. Buemi defended his position, until he was passed by Raikkonen. The first pit stop for Buemi went according to plan. Then we had a major problem at Jaime’s first stop, as he tried to drive away before the lollipop was up and this damaged the fuel rig. As a consequence, when Sebastien came in for his second stop, no fuel went in and we had to bring him in to refuel again. Towards the end, we called him back to the pits, as we could see he was losing oil pressure in the gearbox, for reasons we must now investigate. When Jaime made his second pit stop, we saw that there was a problem with the front right brake, the cause of which we have yet to identify, so on safety grounds we decided to retire him.”

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Post by Ed » Thu Oct 01, 2009 10:50 am

Japanese Grand Prix preview

Jaime Alguersuari
“I have been to Suzuka before, back in 2005 for a karting race, the Asia-Pacific World Cup, although of course we weren’t racing on the F1 track! I was leading the race on the final lap, but I crashed with Kazuki Nakajima at the last corner and ended second. Being in Japan for the first time was an amazing experience and it felt like another world to me.
It’s a dream to now be able to drive on the real circuit, after having seen it while I was there. I’ve driven it on the simulator and also on a computer game. I hope we can have a successful weekend.”

Sebastien Buemi
“I’ve been to Japan, as I drove the Medical Car last year in Fuji, but I’ve never been to Suzuka. I’ve been on the simulator to practice the track, which looks great, so I’m very much looking forward to driving it for real. I’ve heard that they have resurfaced the track and got brand new facilities in the paddock with new pits. I think it is one of the best circuits in the world, so I can’t wait to get there. Japan is very strange and completely different to what we are used to in Europe. I’ve been to Tokyo, which is fantastically modern, although the people wear some rather funny clothes! I got a good impression while I was there, in that the people treat one another with a lot of respect and everything is very clean. As for the race, I think we can do well, as we will have a new update on the car. In Singapore, we were a bit more competitive than in past races and I think we could be even better in Japan.”

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Post by Ed » Fri Oct 02, 2009 5:51 pm

Japanese Grand Prix - Fridy practice

Sebastien Buemi (STR4-03)
“I really liked my first day driving this track, even though it was so wet. It’s a fantastic circuit. Anyway, it’s useful to drive in the rain and we can see from this morning’s session, when everyone went out, that we have quite a quick car in these conditions. We have some new parts so we have to be sure we don’t get any reliability problems and so far it’s been okay on that front.”

First Practice Session
Best lap 1.41.421, pos. 5th, 26 laps
Second Practice Session
Best lap 1.48.691, pos. 6th, 9 laps


Jaime Alguersuari (STR4-02)
“It was good to get a feel for the car in the wet and we made progress, even though I wasn’t pushing too hard, but at least we know how the car works on the Intermediate and Extreme wets. I felt quite comfortable and I’m looking forward to the rest of the weekend. I hope we get a dry session tomorrow morning, so we can improve. My first impression of Suzuka is that it’s really nice. You can feel a lot of grip in the fast corners in the wet, so I think it should be amazing in the dry. With the downforce we have and, now on slick tyres, I think everyone’s lap timesin the dry will be much quicker than in 2006.”

First Practice Session
Best lap 1.42.667, pos. 14th, 27 laps
Second Practice Session
Best lap 1.48.802, pos. 9th, 11 laps

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Post by Ed » Sat Oct 03, 2009 6:35 pm

Toro Rosso Qualifying notes

Sebastien Buemi (STR4-03)
“I’m not happy, as I made it through to Q3, but after crashing the car I couldn’t take part. A great shame as this would have been my second Q3 of the season and the car was super today. I was reasonably comfortable so maybe I didn’t need to do that last lap. In Q1 after I crashed, I managed to bring it back to the pits and have it repaired, so after the second accident, I felt I had to try and bring it back again, as you don’t know from the cockpit how bad the damage is. At that point of the track, the kerb is really high and if you touch it at the speed you are doing there, you just fly over it. I hope to make good use of the performance level of the car in the race, to repay the team for all the work they have to do now.”

Third Practice Session: Best lap 1.31.771, pos. 2th, 26 laps
Qualifying Session: Best lap 1.31.103, pos. 10th

Jaime Alguersuari (STR4-02)
“Before the accident, I was pushing hard on the hard tyre. I lost control and went into the wall. It was quite a heavy impact. The car looks very bad, but I’m fine. I felt confident in the fast Turn 9, so I was going for it, until I went a little bit too fast on the hard tyre and once I was on the grass, I had no grip. The kerb there is far too high for the speed you are carrying at this point. I hope it can be repaired so that I can start from the position in which I qualified. We knew today would be difficult, with this morning being the only dry practice, which made qualifying tough, especially as it is the first time I have been here. Obviously, it’s bad to crash, but in general, I feel we are moving forward, so I hope I can have a nice race as long as I can settle into a good rhythm. Sorry for giving the guys so much work to do now!”

Third Practice Session: Best lap 1.32.689, pos. 10th, 20 laps
Qualifying Session: Best lap 1.31.571, pos. 15th


Laurent Mekies (Chief Engineer): “The most important thing is that both our drivers are fine and we hope the same goes for the other drivers who crashed this afternoon. A day of mixed feelings, as on the one hand, we showed good performance both in the wet yesterday and in the dry this morning, and on the other, both cars are damaged. Another good point is that Jaime made it to Q2 for the first time in his short career, which is an achievement. Sebastien has been quick since yesterday and he was on course to produce an excellent qualifying. Then he went off the track in Q1 and the entire team did a fantastic job to put the car back together again, so he could complete Q1 and move to Q2. With the car repaired as best as possible in the time available, he made it through easily into Q3, but went off on his second timed lap and we could not repair the car for Q3. A lot of work ahead of us now. On the positive side, our performance has clearly moved up a notch this weekend, with our upgrade putting us in a better position. I am impressed with both drivers given the limited time they had to learn the track, with only P3 in the dry.”

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Post by Ed » Sun Oct 04, 2009 11:59 pm

Japanese Grand Prix

Jaime Alguersuari (STR4-02)
Retired

“My accident came on the lap after my second pit stop, when I fitted the soft tyres. At turn 15, which you take flat, I lost the rear end of the car and crashed into the wall, but I’m not sure why, as it was inexplicable and I would like to see the data, in case there might have been something wrong with the pressure of the rear tyres or a puncture. I am really, really sorry for what happened. I was pushing every lap and running consistently, in terms of my lap times being almost always within the same tenth. Hopefully, we can have a better race in Brazil. “

Sebastien Buemi (STR4-03)
Retired

“I had a problem with the clutch, right from the start of the parade lap, when I couldn’t get off the grid. We tried to fix the problem by adjusting the clutch map, but again for the real start, it didn’t work. Then, after a few laps the clutch failed and I had to retire in the pits. A real shame as the weekend had seemed promising right from Friday in the wet. In qualifying the car was quick enough to get me into Q3 before the accident, so maybe I could have scored points today. Now we have to prepare for Brazil where the top teams might not bring so many developments to their car. So I hope we can end the season with two good races.”

Franz Tost: “Having come to Japan for many years, I know this is a very expensive country and that was certainly the case for us this weekend! Unfortunately, Sebastien had a clutch problem which meant he could not get off the line at the start and later, caused his retirement. Jaime drove a good race up to the point of his accident. After the second stop, on new Options at the 130R, the fastest corner of the track, which meant it was a very big accident, the cause of which, we will now investigate. Fortunately, he is uninjured, which is the most important thing. The car is a different story, but in Brazil, I expect we will have a competitive package.”

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Post by Ed » Sun Oct 18, 2009 11:46 am

2009 BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX – FRIDAY

Sebastien Buemi
(STR4-03)

“I am happy that we seemed quite competitive in the afternoon, after the mechanics did a very good job to rebuild the car after my accident this morning. I came up fast behind Liuzzi, who was going slowly on the racing line and in trying to avoid him, I went over the kerb, lost control and spun. I think we showed good speed, even though this is my first time driving this circuit. Now we have a solid basis on which to improve tomorrow, after studying all the data. Today’s session shows that our pace in Japan was not just a one-off. So, I am quite confident for the rest of the weekend.”

First Practice Session
Best lap 1.13.503, pos. 13th, 24 laps
Second Practice Session
Best lap 1.12.357, pos. 2nd, 45 laps

Jaime Alguersuari
(STR4-01)
“I enjoyed my first day at this circuit, which has a nice mix of high speed and slower corners that make it fun to drive and overall, practice went quite well, even though it was tricky when the track was a bit damp. I am still learning and getting up to speed. There is still room to improve the car set-up, especially on the softer tyre, but it’s already pretty good.”

First Practice Session
Best lap 1.14.040, pos. 19th, 38 laps
Second Practice Session
Best lap 1.13.041, pos. 19th, 40 laps

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Post by Ed » Sun Oct 18, 2009 11:50 am

2009 BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX – SATURDAY

SEB - ROW 3 P 6 – BEST QUALIFYING THIS SEASON
JAIME - ROW 6 P 12 – BEST QUALIFYING THIS SEASON

Sebastien Buemi
(STR4-03)

“Of course I am happy, as sixth is my best ever qualifying result. It was a difficult session and I just stayed in the car, trying to remain focused. Our goal for tomorrow is to score some points. But with this kind of weather anything can happen. I would prefer it to be dry tomorrow, but so far this weekend, we have been quick whatever the track conditions, so I will be fighting my hardest if it’s wet or dry.”

Third Practice Session: Best lap 1.24.443, pos. 7th, 5 laps
Qualifying Session: Best lap 1.20.250, pos. 6th

Jaime Alguersuari
(STR4-01)

“That was not bad and I’m happy with the result. There was a lot of water and it was easy to crash, so my priority was to stay on the track, making no mistakes. Visibility was very bad in these conditions, so I hope we have better conditions for the race. I think I did the best I could today. To make it through to Q3 would have required using the Intermediate tyre, but we gambled on sticking on the Extreme and the final result is pretty good anyway.”

Third Practice Session: Best lap 1.26.224, pos. 13th, 6 laps
Qualifying Session: Best lap 1.22.231, pos. 12th

Laurent Mekies (Chief Engineer): “Our best qualifying result of the season with our second consecutive Q3 with Buemi and second consecutive Q2 with Alguersuari. In Suzuka, we showed we had the pace thanks to an aero update. Here, the team and drivers put everything together well in what was a very difficult session to manage. Sebastien did a very good job to secure P6 and Jaime also did well to reach Q2 in what were very difficult conditions. But it’s the race that matters, when I think we can expect a complicated afternoon. Today was an encouraging first step and now we must try and convert it into some points tomorrow.”

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Post by Ed » Mon Oct 19, 2009 4:54 pm

2009 BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX – SUNDAY 18/10/09

BACK IN THE POINTS AGAIN

Sebastien Buemi
(STR4-03)
Pos. 7th
“It was a very difficult race for me, as I had to push hard every lap, but in the end to come away with points for the first time since China is a good result, for me and for the team, who did a good job today. My start was difficult, as I was sandwiched between Kubica and Rosberg at the first corner, so they got past me, which was a shame. However, we did not have a particularly strong race pace, so we must look at the data to try and understand why. I have mixed feelings because after our performance on Friday I had hoped to finish in the top five, so although the points are nice, it’s not as good as I expected. Now we can look forward to Abu Dhabi where we must try and build on this result and keep moving forward.”


Jaime Alguersuari
(STR4-01)
Pos. 14th
“I am happy to have finished the race and I feel I am still making progress and learning every time I go out on track. My start was quite good and I managed to get past Kobayashi. But I was on the wrong side for the start and other cars began going past me as I was slow in a straight line. After that, I was stuck in traffic and from then on my race was always going to be tough. When I had a clear track I could be quicker and overall, I feel I have improved again this weekend.”

Laurent Mekies: “It’s good to be back in the points with Sebastien, however we were hoping for a bit more today and now we have to work out why we were unable to reproduce our Friday pace today. As for Jaime, he had a very difficult first part of the race, fighting with a lot of cars and dealing with traffic. He got caught behind a couple of one-stoppers, but on the Option tyre towards the end, his lap times were fairly competitive.”

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Post by Ed » Sat Nov 07, 2009 6:10 pm

2009 ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX – FRIDAY 30/10/09

Sebastien Buemi (STR4-03)
“This new circuit has some interesting features which we are not used to, like the tunnel and it’s a nice feeling to start running in daylight and going into the dark. This morning was a bit difficult, but we improved the car quite a lot in the afternoon, so I am not unhappy. You have to consider that there is a huge difference in the track between the first session and the second, as it is a lot quicker in the evening when it’s cooler. It was a bit difficult to get the tyres working properly, especially the Option, but apart from that, the car is not too bad. Now we have to see what we can do for tomorrow, when it will be important to qualify well.”

First Practice Session
Best lap 1.44.687, pos. 6th, 32 laps
Second Practice Session
Best lap 1.41.683, pos. 6th, 37 laps

Jaime Alguersuari (STR4-01)
“I have enjoyed driving this new circuit. It has nothing particularly tricky about it and it reminds me in parts of Valencia. This morning I was learning the track and I also had to get used to an F1 car again, as last weekend, I was racing in the World Series. The first session went pretty well and so did the afternoon, apart from a small problem on the car towards the end. Degradation does not seem to be an issue with the tyres and they are lasting well. In FP2 the track of course had more grip and was generally faster, helped by the fact it was cooler in the dark.”

First Practice Session
Best lap 1.44.955, pos. 9th, 33 laps
Second Practice Session
Best lap 1.43.022, pos. 19th, 39 laps

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