Race - Japanese GP report: Toro Rosso Ferrari

Daniil Kvyat

"A P13 was the maximum we could do today, I really don’t think we could’ve done much better. Nothing extraordinary happened today, there were no Safety Car periods or retirements, so we didn’t gain any positions that way either. Our straight-line speed is just nowhere, which is very unfortunate, but there’s not much more we can do, we’re just too slow. On the positive side, I feel better in the car race after race and our team work is constantly improving, so we will go on doing our best to finish the season knowing that we couldn’t have done more!"

Carlos Sainz

"A very disappointing race for me today. Even if we started well, managing to get past both Williams and enjoying a good race pace during the first stint, that all changed after the first pit-stop. We then dropped behind the two McLarens and from that point onwards our race was over, as we were just not able to overtake because of our low top-speed... It was just impossible! I can assure you I tried my best, but today we couldn’t do more than this. It’s a frustrating situation to be in but we won’t give up. We will now get ready for the next races where hopefully we can be a bit stronger – rainy Sundays would also help!"

Franz Tost (Team Principal)

"Starting from P13 and P14 made it a difficult race for us today. We simply don’t have the speed on the straight lines, something you certainly need to perform well. Both drivers did a good start and after the first lap we moved up to P11 and P12. Our pit-stops were also carried out well, but we lost time in traffic and therefore we were only able to finish 13th and 17th. Fortunately, neither Haas nor McLaren scored any points, but of course the last four races of the season won’t be easy for us, because all the others made steps forward with the development of their Power Units – as we are out with last years’ specification, we simply face a disadvantage regarding speed... We just have to be focused and finish the season in a reasonably good way."