Sun: Toro Rosso, Sauber ,Manor, Haas

Haas suffered a double retirement at the Malaysian Grand Prix, while Toro Rosso drivers Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat failed to make into the points.

Toro Rosso:
Carlos Sainz: “We were so close to the points! It was quite an eventful race right from the start, which was what we needed. My start was also very stressful, as I was doing a clutch warming when I arrived to the grid and the engine suddenly stopped! I managed to turn it back on and it was just as the lights went out… So my start wasn’t great because of this, but I then did a mega job at Turn 1 and overtook five or six cars! From then on we tried to follow the opposite strategy to many others – when the first Virtual Safety Car was deployed we decided to stay out, which was a bit risky, but meant we were fighting for the points positions! In the end, we did a good race and if we didn’t end up in the points it’s because we just didn’t have the pace, not because we didn’t try. We will of course keep working and I now look forward to Japan, a race that has become one of my favourites after enjoying it for the first time last year. I also can’t wait to meet all those amazing Japanese fans again, they definitely give you an extra boost!”

Daniil Kvyat:  “Unfortunately our race was destroyed after some contact on the first lap with another car. My front wing got damaged and, from then on, we really couldn’t hope for much. It’s frustrating when this happens, but when you start from so back on the grid this is always one of the risks – sometimes you escape, sometimes you don’t… It was just one of those races! Luckily the race in Japan is next week, so we can start working hard for it straight away and forget today.”

Sauber:
Marcus Ericsson: “I am satisfied with my performance today. I had quite a good start and was able to make up some positions as I had a decent pace throughout the race. We have clearly made progress on the car side, which brings us closer to the midfield. Obviously, we were aiming for points, but we were not close enough today. By the way, my drinking system was not working, so I had to go through the whole race distance without any liquids. That was really tough! For the upcoming race weekends we need to keep up the good work. I am really looking forward to Japan, because it is my favorite track. I cannot wait to get there.”

Felipe Nasr: “It was not a good day for me. After the start, in Turn 1 Nico (Rosberg) spun and I had to avoid running into him. I lost some time because of this incident. After that we were able to recover quite well and went for a one stop strategy. Unfortunately, I then had issues with the brake-by-wire system, which forced me to retire. There are still some positives to take from this weekend. Now I am looking ahead to the upcoming race weekend in Suzuka.”

Manor:
Pascal Wehrlein: “Well, the first lap was pretty cool. I got a good start and was up to 15th from 21st quite quickly, so that was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, after that, we didn’t have the pace to fight as closely as we would we like and gradually we started to drop back. Realistically, I knew yesterday that it would be more of a battle between Esteban and me, which we had, and it was good. It was tough. Very hot in the cockpit and a nice warm drink to keep me going. But it was okay. I think we managed the tyres well; the track temperature was pretty high, but no real problems there. We just didn’t have the extra pace to push for something more today.”

Esteban Ocon: “The start was excellent and on the Soft tyre on the first stint we could have a good race. Once we pitted onto the hard tyre we started to struggle. We had a decent battle with Ericsson but I couldn’t beat my teammate, who was on a different strategy, and the penalties put paid to that anyway. We were definitely better off here and we’ve made some real progress since Singapore, no doubt about that. So my thanks to the team for a really good job this weekend and let’s keep moving forward.”

Haas:
Romain Grosjean: “There was a brake failure. We really don’t know what yet, but the pedal just went straight to the floor and I had to avoid the car in front of me. Our data didn’t suggest anything beforehand. It’s a shame. We did a really good first lap and we were looking at points running inside the top-10. Things just didn’t go very well. I was racing with Fernando (Alonso). He had power, so it was very difficult to keep him behind. I was then just trying to follow his pace. The plan was to try to keep the tires alive for quite a while. We just didn’t get to that point, though.”

Esteban Gutierrez: “Today we had a fantastic start. It was pretty good up to the first corner when, unfortunately, I got a puncture in my rear-right tire from Kevin (Magnussen) touching behind. I then had to come back to the pits. The floor was damaged and when I went back out on track I was fighting a lot, pushing to make up places, but the car wasn’t easy to drive. We had to retire after my second pit stop as we had a mechanical failure. Overall, a pretty disappointing weekend, but we have to keep our focus and keep the rhythm as we head to Japan.”