Toro Rosso's
Pierre Gasly was left frustrated after Honda's home race at Suzuka had finished, as he just finished outside of the points in 11th and felt disappointed with the team's tactics on the day.
The Red Bull-bound Frenchman started on P7 just behind his teammate
Brendon Hartley, but neither of the two drivers managed to drag any points across the line for Toro Rosso, as Gasly finished in P11 and Hartley in P13.
This left everyone at the team disappointed, especially since Honda wanted to have a good showing in their home country Japan. The impressive qualifying looked to have set up the team for a good race where points could be harvested, but it ended up with bitter disappointment.
“I felt good with the car behind Romain [Grosjean] and I was pretty close to him, but then we went too long on the first stint as we didn’t want to pit into traffic but then several cars undercut us," Gasly told F1 Paddock Pass.
“We put the soft tyres on during the pit stop and I enjoyed the battles and overtakes on the first few laps, but then I started to have massive blisters on the rear tyres and I was trying to survive at the end.
"It’s just a shame after such a good qualifying yesterday, it would have been great to reward the team and Honda here in Japan for their home race with some points today.”
On to the next one boys. The United States Grand Prix in two weeks' time could be a good venue for Honda to show what they're capable of, as their new and improved power unit should be able to flex its muscles on the quick Circuit of the Americas in Austin.