Toro Rosso, Verstappen: “It was a good qualifying”

Positive qualification for the Toro Rosso standard-bearers on the new Brazilian track of Interlagos. Despite yesterday's problems, in fact, Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen managed to conclude an excellent qualifying in Sao Paulo, placing their cars in ninth and tenth position. The Dutchman managed to confirm yesterday's good performance and despite the set-up problems suffered yesterday afternoon he managed to achieve a very important qualification for Q3 in anticipation of this evening's race. The same goes for Carlos Sainz, author of a good lap which allowed him access to the last qualifying heat.

Here are the words of Carlos Sainz: “What a complicated day! Unfortunately our qualifying was a bit troubled: the display on my steering wheel didn't work and therefore I didn't have any data regarding the lap times. Furthermore, we also had a small problem with the clutch during the last run in Q2, which certainly didn't help me... it wasn't an easy Saturday, but the positive thing is that I felt better with the car than yesterday. Now we have to think about tomorrow's race and I am still happy with my starting position which will give us the opportunity to choose the tire strategy. I think we can have a good race tomorrow."

Here are the words Max Verstappen instead: “Today was a good qualifying. We can be really happy, as we managed to get into Q3: something I didn't think was possible here! This is not the most suitable track for us, but we put in a good performance, qualifying ahead of the Lotus and staying close to the Red Bulls. I expect a difficult race tomorrow, especially on the tire front. A lot will depend on the strategy, but we have a car and I'm really looking forward to racing."

Roberto Valenti
Twitter: @RobertoVal94