After a race long battle stuck in the midfield, Toro Rosso are please to be heading to Malaysia with two points in the bag after a chaotic final lap which saw a throng of drivers’ battling for the final few points paying positions. Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne finished their first race at Albert Park 9th and 11th respectively.
After being involved in a first lap incident with the Williams of Bruno Senna, Daniel Ricciardo was able to battle on to two World Championship points as he passed his own team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne and Nico Rosberg on the final lap as Pastor Maldonado retired after a heavy shunt.
“I don’t really know how that happened on the last lap.” Explained Daniel Ricciardo, who gained three places on the last lap, “I saw blue flags and a lot of cars in front and I was sure I could make up at least one place because it was chaos. I was a bit lucky to be the last one in that group because I could have a clear picture of the other cars going off in front. Then I had a chance to attack Jean-Eric. He defended into Turn 13 and I thought I could make the switch back and I did, which put me in P9. The last few laps were crazy and I was pushing like hell.”
After a strong showing of pace throughout the race weekend, Toro Rosso and their drivers’ are confident as they pack up and head off to Malaysia for round two of the 2012 F1 season.
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