Vergne starts the season well in Melbourne

The Australian Grand Prix smiled on Toro Rosso. Although most teams encountered mechanical problems in Melbourne, the Faenza team managed to get into the points with its two cars. Jean-Éric Vergne arrived in ninth place (before the exclusion of Daniel Ricciardo) while maintaining the advantage over his teammate Daniil Kvyat, very impressive for his first steps in F1.

“It’s obviously a good result, even if the car was difficult to drive”, commented the Frenchman. “We had brake problems which cost us time but ultimately we are happy to finish the first race with both cars in the points. I am very happy that the team scored these points today. After a long and difficult period where we worked a lot this winter, it's a great reward for all the guys and it's nice for us drivers to give them something in return. I have the impression that things are going in the right direction and that we are going to gain strength. »

Jean-Éric Vergne had a difficult end to the race as he was in seventh place before consecutively losing two places against Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen. The Toro Rosso driver had nevertheless resisted well against the Ferrari F14 T of the 2007 world champion, but the French driver made a mistake a few laps from the checkered flag.

Discover the analysis of the Australian Grand Prix carried out by our special correspondents in issue 1952 of AUTOhebdo, available this evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.