Formula 1 | Toro Rosso, Hartley: “Really disappointing performance”

Disastrous weekend for Scuderia Toro Rosso at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. In fact, despite the team's efforts, Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley failed to finish with a points finish on the last weekend of the season, allowing Renault to gain sixth position in the constructors' championship. The objective will now be to take a small holiday, focusing our attention on 2018 and the new collaboration with Honda.

Here are the words of Brendon Hartley: “Hanging on to that sixth place in the championship was an uphill battle and it's a real shame to have lost the position... I'm very disappointed. Looking at the positive aspects, I must say that in these weeks together with the team I have learned a lot and now I almost feel at home: it is really important, in view of next year. Going back to this weekend, I had a pretty clean race. I found myself in a train of cars: a McLaren, a Haas, a Sauber, me and then Pierre behind me... it's really very difficult to overtake here with these cars that generate a lot of downforce. I've had a really steep learning curve these last few weeks, but now it's time for me to take a vacation! I'm looking forward to recovering, having some time off and preparing as best I can for 2018, coming back stronger for what will be my first full season in F1."

Here are Pierre Gasly's impressions: “I'm really disappointed that I wasn't able to maintain sixth place in the Championship… That was the goal. We knew it would be difficult, but in the end it wasn't impossible. In today's race we struggled a lot, it was a really difficult day and I'm not satisfied with what I did. I pushed too hard and made a mistake that cost me a lot of time. It's frustrating to end the season like this and I'm sorry that the team didn't achieve its goal. Looking on the positive side, these last few races with Toro Rosso have been really useful for me to gain experience and this will definitely help me start next year on the right foot. I can't wait for 2018."

Roberto Valenti