Home GP Not Kind To STR
By Andrew Cutler
September 10 2012
For Scuderia Toro Rosso the Italian GP would be a memorable one for all of the wrong reasons. Nine laps in, Jean-Eric Vergne would mysteriously lose control of his car under braking, sending him over a kerb which launched his car into the air. He would take a blow to his back as the STR7 slammed back to Earth, but a medical check-up would find no lasting injuries.
For Daniel Ricciardo, things seemed to be going a good bit better. The Aussie made the most of a one stop pit strategy and the mechanical gremlins that befell many of his competitors, thereby finding himself in the 10th & final points-paying spot as the White Flag lap began. Then, as he came into the final corners, his car refused to respond as he tried to step on the gas for the last run down to the Checkered Flag. This allowed both Williams F1 car to slip by him, dropping him out of the points.
Here are the team's post-race comments:
Jean-Eric Vergne (DNF - crash):
“I was taken from the accident to the medical centre but, apart from a bit of pain in my back and my head, I am fine.I felt a big impact when the car landed after going up in the air - the kerb is high at that point and I count myself lucky that the car did not flip over. I don't know why I crashed. All I can remember is that, when I braked, I completely lost control of the back end of the car.”
Daniel Ricciardo (12th):
“It's been so hard to score points this year and that means it is incredibly disappointing not to get one today. I was tenth until the last corner on the very last lap. At that point, I accelerated to exit Parabolica and nothing happened. At the moment, I don't know the cause, but to miss out on a point by a few hundred metres is bitterly disappointing.”
Franz Tost, Team Principal:
“A frustrating race for us at the end of a difficult weekend on home ground. As it was clear we did not have great pace this weekend, we decided to run Daniel on a one-stop strategy in the hope of making up places on those changing tyres twice. It worked to a certain extent as, from 14th on the grid, he was in tenth place for most of the final lap. Unfortunately, his car suffered a fuel pick-up problem, which we now need to investigate. ”
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