Toro Rosso Team Principal Franz Tost believes Carlos Sainz Jr. extracted the maximum from the squad’s package after taking seventh place at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Sainz Jr. made it through to the top 10 shootout at the Hungaroring and started from ninth place, following Nico Hülkenberg’s gearbox sanction, and surged up to sixth spot at the start.
Sainz Jr. held the position through the pit stop phase but was ultimately overhauled by Fernando Alonso, and came home in seventh.
Sainz Jr.’s result nonetheless enabled Toro Rosso to close in on fifth-placed Williams, with the Mercedes-powered team now just two points clear.
“Carlos had a great start to the race and was racing in P6 by the end of the first lap,” said Tost.
“He defended this position against attacks from Alonso in a very good and professional way.
“He then came in for a pit-stop, which I have to say was a fantastic one – we did it in around 2.0 seconds, it was very fast!
“Therefore we stayed in front of Alonso, even though later on he was able to overtake Carlos – his car was simply faster.
“Carlos brought the car home in seventh place and I think this was the maximum he could get out of the package”.
Daniil Kvyat, meanwhile, was demoted to 16th on the grid after a penalty for impeding Lance Stroll, and recovered to 11th, narrowly missing the points.
“He started on the Soft tyres and gained two positions straight after the start,” said Tost.
“Our calculations made us leave him out as long as possible on those tyres while the other cars, racing on Supersofts, were coming in to pit.
“This allowed Daniil to race in free air, even though he did find traffic at times – especially at the end with [Kevin] Magnussen, who was on the Supersoft and it was therefore difficult to overtake him.
“In the end Daniil finished in 11th position, which was the best possible result for him.”
