Pierre Gasly believes Toro Rosso has not been able to match the gains their rivals have made in recent races as both cars were knocked out in the first part of qualifying for the German Grand Prix.
Team-mate Brendon Hartley has only made into the second part of the qualifying on just three occasions in 11 events, while Gasly last got into Q3 at the Monaco Grand Prix in May.
As the season has progressed, their rivals powered by Ferrari in the shape of Haas and Sauber appear to have received a boost in engine power after the Italian manufacturer is believed to have found a major update within their power unit, this has seen the two teams steal a march on those around them.
GERMAN GRAND PRIX: Qualifying results | Photo gallery
"It’s such a shame to go out in qualifying so early," said the Frenchman. "We hoped we would see some rain for the session but it didn’t happen, unfortunately.
"It’s pretty difficult for us at the moment because the other teams are improving and we haven’t made the step forward we would have liked, so we need to work hard to catch the others. I know the team is working flat out, but we are still struggling with pace.
"I knew it wouldn’t have been easy to make it to Q2 today, and in the end, we missed it by just four-hundredths of a second. However, considering our times yesterday, our race pace looks competitive, so hopefully tonight we can find a good strategy for tomorrow.
"Everything’s possible – of course we will need some lucky happenings to make our way through the pack, but we will give it our everything to recover as many positions as we can."
The Faenza-based outfit has slipped to eighth in the Constructors' standings after failing to secure a finish inside the points since Gasly's seventh-place finish in Monaco, just three points ahead of Sauber.
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