Buemi: Toro Rosso can fight for points

The Swiss, who bagged two top eight finishes in the first three races of the season, but is yet to add to his tally of three points since, believes the team just needs a small step forward in terms of pace to be able to fight for top eight finishes on merit.

"We are really close to the points," Buemi told AUTOSPORT. "We just need to get a little bit better to jump towards the front of the field. If you start close to the front you can have a good race - it's more difficult when you start P16, even when you have got good speed.

"We want to be able to score regular points, even if it's just one or two. We want to be back there. At Spa, we were so close. I had the seventh fastest lap, so we do not need much more."

Buemi believes that he could have finished in the points at Spa had he opted for an alternative strategy. He crossed the line 12th on Sunday, albeit only 10 seconds behind eighth-placed Nico Rosberg.

"We didn't have a good qualifying, so the race was difficult for us," said Buemi. "I have had some bad weekends in the last few races, but this time I had a proper good one.

"It's a shame we didn't have a one-stop strategy because I'm pretty sure I could have scored one or two points. I was faster than Heikki Kovalainen early on, but couldn't get by."