Toyota between satisfaction and frustration at Fuji

Toyota Gazoo Racing appears to have the potential to compete with Porsche on his land in Fuji where the rain complicates the teams' task. The TS050 Hybrid n°8 led by Sébastien Buemi et Kazuki Nakajima in qualifying failed less than two tenths from the pole won by Brendon Hartley (who will make his F1 debut at the US GP next weekend) and Earl Bamber in the No. 919 Porsche 2 Hybrid.

The Japanese team is divided between the satisfaction of seeing the TS050 Hybrids on the pace and the frustration of failing so close to the front row.

“It’s a real shame because we had the speed to get pole. Unfortunately I had some traffic being hampered by a Porsche on the first lap while my tires were at their best and we were therefore unable to fight for pole. We had the fastest car today but we couldn't show it and I'm disappointed." explained Sébastien Buemi, while his teammate Kazuki Nakajima also complained about the traffic.

The session was, however, more complicated for the #7 Toyota which was entrusted to Kamui Kobayashi and José Maria Lopez, teammates of Mike conway. The second TS050 Hybrid failed more than 1”4 from the benchmark.

“I thought I had a good lap, but we weren’t on the pace, explains the three-time WTCC champion. We changed the tire specifications for Kamui, but he didn't improve much. We need to identify the problem and solve it for tomorrow. I'm not worried about starting fourth as long as the car is performing well for the race, but it's still disappointing to see the gap that separates us from the sister car. »

Toyota Gazoo Racing has not won since the 6 Hours of Spa (Belgium) last May.