The Gentleman Magazine Issue 14 | April 2019 | Page 31

Christian Horner, Team Principal
“A fantastic start to the season with a podium finish at our
first Grand Prix with our new power unit partner, Honda,
who haven’t finished in the top three since 2008. Max put in a
remarkable performance today, and after a decent start and one
of the day’s fastest pit stops, he was able to take advantage of
the C3 tyre and make a great pass on Sebastian. He went on to
put Lewis under pressure for the rest of the race, but didn’t get
quite close enough. Pierre battled his way from P17 to finish
just outside of the points, but at this track it’s notoriously hard
to overtake. He drove the wheels off the car and it’s a shame
that it wasn’t rewarded with a point. He raced hard and I’m sure
his time will come. After a promising season opener, we now
look ahead to Bahrain.”
Scuderia Toro Rosso
Daniil Kvyat
Finish position: 10th, Start position: 15th
“It was an excellent race today! I’m happy with the way I drove
and it was really enjoyable. There were a lot of positives to come
from the race – it’s just a shame about yesterday’s qualifying as
we had the opportunity to start a bit further ahead! We had
good tyre management throughout the race and we definitely
had the pace to fight for higher positions but, as we know,
it’s difficult to overtake around Albert Park. I tried to catch
Stroll, but I was a bit on the edge and I couldn’t make it. I had
a good battle with Pierre towards the end of the race, I felt like
I could fight him well and at the end it was satisfying to keep
a quicker car behind almost the whole race. I know we have a
good package with the car and the engine, so we need to keep
developing it. I’m very optimistic for the next few races and I
think it’s possible to achieve good results.”
Alexander Albon
Finish position: 14th, Start position: 13th
“Mixed feelings today! It was my first experience of a race
weekend and I didn’t really know what to expect. The race
started off very well, I dropped the clutch and thought ‘great,
that was OK!’ I made up two positions straight away and at that
time we were in the mix, as I was already one position away
from the points. That was pretty much as good as it got for me,
though. We were in a battle with Giovinazzi, I think he was
struggling with his tyres and everyone on that strategy lost out.
All of the guys who stayed out on the harder compound behind
overcut us. That compromised our race, but I’m still happy
with how my weekend went. I think we could have had points
so that stings a little, but it was a good experience and I came
away with a clean weekend, relatively speaking!”
Franz Tost, Team Principal
“We’re always happy to come to Melbourne, not only because
it’s the first race of the season, but it’s a special race with an
extraordinary atmosphere and a lot of great fans! First of all, I
would like to congratulate Honda for finishing on the podium
with Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, which is certainly a big
success for them and they deserved such a result. As for our
race, we started 13th and 15th and we decided to go for a
different strategy for our drivers: Alex started on the option
tyre, while Daniil started on the prime. This turned out to be
the right decision, because it gave us the possibility to be flexible
with our strategy. Daniil drove a fantastic race, bringing home
a point – we must not forget he’s been out of the cockpit for a
year and a half, so to come back and fight successfully into the
top 10 is a good sign for the rest of the season. Alex did a great
job too, because this was his first race in F1 and it’s not an easy
circuit around here. Nevertheless, he didn’t make any mistakes
and learned a lot throughout the weekend. After the first race
weekend, we feel we have a strong package, so I’m optimistic
for the next races.”
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