Toro Rosso driver Max Verstappen says he was pleased to qualify ninth in Sochi after the lack of low fuel running completed during the weekend prior to today.
FP1 was disrupted due to a diesel spill while second practice was hit by heavy rain. Verstappen’s teammate crashed heavily in final practice which resulted in a red flag and shortened session as marshals repaired the barriers at turn 13.
Verstappen expressed his satisfaction over qualifying today considering it was his first time at the Sochi Autodrom.
“I’m very satisfied with my qualifying performance today! It was my first time at this track with low fuel, so I had to get used to that at the same time during the session – I was still learning during qualifying!”
“A P9 is a good result, I’m really pleased. It’s difficult to know what to expect for tomorrow’s race, as we didn’t get a lot of running during the practice sessions and even though our long runs were not bad, we will need to wait and see… But I’m confident we can have a good race and fight for more points!”
Since his crash, Toro Rosso teammate Carlos Sainz has been released from hospital and we still await confirmation whether the Spaniard will line-up on the grid in Sochi tomorrow afternoon.
