With Sebastian Vettel and Sebastien Bourdais starting the British Grand Prix from eighth and 13th, the Toro Rosso team had hoped to score points today at Silverstone. However, Vettel found himself eliminated on the first lap after David Coulthard tagged the rear of his STR3, while Bourdais struggled on to take the chequered flag in 11th position.

Sebastien Bourdais

“It was very tough at the start as I couldn’t see because the water wasn’t clearing off my visor. It’s the first time I’ve encountered this problem. In the early stages I had a lot of understeer which ruined the tyres. Putting the extreme wets on was a good call and the car was pretty quick but it was too late to do very much and eleventh was the best I could do. We must continue to work hard, starting with the up-coming Hockenheim test and try and do better at the next race.”

Sebastian Vettel

“Massa spun going into Bridge which caused a lot of confusion and meant the cars were all running very close. Then in Turn 14, I got hit on the rear left and it spun me around. I tried to save it, but I got stuck in the gravel. I thought there might have been a chance of being pushed out, but when I got out of the cockpit I saw the gravel was much too deep.”

Franz Tost

“Both drivers had bad starts, losing places from their grid positions, obtained in a very good qualifying session yesterday. Vettel didn’t even complete one lap after being clipped by Coulthard and ending up in the gravel. Bourdais survived a spin and we made the right decision to switch to full wets to bring him home eleventh, even if he could have finished a bit higher. We have reached the mid point of the season and we can approach the second half with confidence, having seen our pace here in qualifying. I am convinced that, in the right circumstances, we can put ourselves in the points scoring positions.”