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For the first time this season, Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi left a Grand Prix feeling pleased with his result following last weekend’s Canadian round. Buemi’s strong Montreal race saw him finish eighth, which in turn boosted the solitary point he had gleaned from May’s Monaco Grand Prix to a total tally of five.

For the Swiss driver, who has endured three retirements from the eight races run, his Canada result comes as welcome relief, especially as it helped Toro Rosso pass rivals Williams in the hunt for seventh place in the constructors’ standings.

“Three days after the last race, I’m still smiling at the thought of my Canadian Grand Prix weekend,” Buemi told Toro Rosso’s official site. “Eighth was a really good result, especially as me and the team have had a lot of problems so far this year. I have really had a lot of bad luck and technical difficulties, so to have a good race and pick up four points in Montreal was very important.

“On top of that, it means we move ahead of Williams in the constructors’ championship which is fantastic. Now it is up to us to keep this positive momentum going and to try and catch up with Force India.”

One area in which Buemi believes the team must improve is qualifying. He is yet to make it higher up the grid than his 12th-place slot in Australia and in Montreal qualified down in 15th, just one place ahead of team mate Jaime Alguersuari.

“Our race pace was good, but where we suffered was in qualifying, because ending up 15th and 16th on the grid behind the Williams was just not good enough,” he added. “It’s clear that we are much more competitive in the race than in qualifying, where we are not producing the results we want. We need to be starting the races from the top ten or at a maximum in the top 12.

“I believe we, and by that I mean, the drivers and the team, are not getting the most out of the new tyre on the first flying lap. This means our lap times are not good enough, whereas in the race, with a full fuel load, we are much better at getting the tyres to work properly.”

Ahead of next weekend’s European Grand Prix, Buemi has a busy schedule, which includes karting, promotional work and time spent on the simulator at parent team Red Bull’s Milton Keynes factory.