Toro Rosso would have preferred Sunday’s British Grand Prix to have been hit with yet more rain, which would undoubtedly have leveled the playing field up and down the grid. As it transpired, however, the British Grand Prix ran smoothly with no rain and no safety car periods as Mark Webber stormed to victory.
Further down the order, and Toro Rosso suffered yet another dreary race as their drivers finished 13th and 14th respectively, once again outside the points. Daniel Ricciardo suffered a bad start, with high amounts of wheel spin off the line, whereas Jean-Eric Vergne started from the back row of the grid.
Throughout the two exceedingly wet Friday practice sessions, both Toro Rossos completed many laps in the treacherous conditions. With Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne undeniably gaining some valuable wet weather knowledge, a rain struck British Grand Prix would most certainly have played into the hands of Toro Rosso.
“We would have preferred to see some more rain today.” Explained Toro Rosso’s team principal, Franz Tost. “It was clear right from the start of the weekend that we were more competitive in the wet, however we did not get it quite right in qualifying and with Jean-Eric Vergne, we also had to contend with his ten place grid penalty. In the race, he made a great start, moving up seven places on the opening lap. Daniel Ricciardo on the other hand, did not get off the line well and so our two drivers found themselves fighting each other for most of the race, eventually ending up 13th and 14th with Daniel and Jean-Eric respectively.”
The Faenza-based team currently only have 6 World Championship points, and are a whole 38 points behind Force India. With Caterham openly aiming to reel in Toro Rosso over the next few races, they desperately need some competitive results as Formula 1 heads to Germany.
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