Red Bull's Junior Team in Formula 1, Scuderia Toro Rosso ranked 9th in this year's Constructor's championship, scoring 26 points. Its best result was 8th -- undoubtedly, a disappointment for team boss, Franz Tost.
The team started the 2012 season with two new drivers: Australian, Daniel Ricciardo (from HRT) and Frenchman, Jean-Eric Vergne, both former Formula Renault 3.5 front runners.
The season began on a strong note with Ricciardo qualifying a surprising 6th in Bahrain. However, on average, the Ferrari-powered STR7s were eliminated at Q2 during the qualifying sessions. Their race pace was not amongst the best, and the two drivers experienced real difficulties breaking into the top 10.
Jean-Eric Vergne
17th in the Driver's championship with 16 points
Best place in qualifications: 11th (once, Australia)
Best race result: 8th (four times)
Retired 4 times
Daniel Ricciardo
18th in the Driver's championship with 10 points
Best place in qualifications: 6th (once, Bahrain)
Best race result: 9th (four times)
Retired 1 time
It's quite hard to conceive that the small team based in Faenza, Italy scored a victory in F1: It was with Sebastian Vettel at Monza in 2008. Nowadays, the team is really struggling. Dr Helmut Marko, Red Bull's motorsport man, made it very clear that the B team has to raise their game in 2013.
Toro Rosso hired a new technical director in James Key (former Force India designer) to replace Giorgio Ascanelli. Next year's car, still powered by the Ferrari V8 powerplant, will need to be a regular point scorer.
Tost is known to put immense psychological pressure on his drivers. And sometimes, that does not work as they crack under pressure and make silly driving mistakes. Rookie, Vergne -- spectacular on occasion -- seemed to have more difficulty handling intense pressure. He spun a few times in qualifying, but saved his season with four 8th place finishes.
The outgoing Ricciardo's 9th place in Australia looked promising for the rest of year, but his campaign was stymied as the STR7 faltered. His best run was a trio of point-scoring finishes in Singapore, Japan and Korea where he was able to mix it with faster cars.
Tost kept them both for next season, with hopes that they'll do better if one has hopes to graduate to the A team, Red Bull Racing.
The team started the 2012 season with two new drivers: Australian, Daniel Ricciardo (from HRT) and Frenchman, Jean-Eric Vergne, both former Formula Renault 3.5 front runners.
The season began on a strong note with Ricciardo qualifying a surprising 6th in Bahrain. However, on average, the Ferrari-powered STR7s were eliminated at Q2 during the qualifying sessions. Their race pace was not amongst the best, and the two drivers experienced real difficulties breaking into the top 10.
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| Photo: WRi2 |
Jean-Eric Vergne
17th in the Driver's championship with 16 points
Best place in qualifications: 11th (once, Australia)
Best race result: 8th (four times)
Retired 4 times
Daniel Ricciardo
18th in the Driver's championship with 10 points
Best place in qualifications: 6th (once, Bahrain)
Best race result: 9th (four times)
Retired 1 time
It's quite hard to conceive that the small team based in Faenza, Italy scored a victory in F1: It was with Sebastian Vettel at Monza in 2008. Nowadays, the team is really struggling. Dr Helmut Marko, Red Bull's motorsport man, made it very clear that the B team has to raise their game in 2013.
Toro Rosso hired a new technical director in James Key (former Force India designer) to replace Giorgio Ascanelli. Next year's car, still powered by the Ferrari V8 powerplant, will need to be a regular point scorer.
 |
| Photo: Toro Rosso F1 Team |
Tost is known to put immense psychological pressure on his drivers. And sometimes, that does not work as they crack under pressure and make silly driving mistakes. Rookie, Vergne -- spectacular on occasion -- seemed to have more difficulty handling intense pressure. He spun a few times in qualifying, but saved his season with four 8th place finishes.
The outgoing Ricciardo's 9th place in Australia looked promising for the rest of year, but his campaign was stymied as the STR7 faltered. His best run was a trio of point-scoring finishes in Singapore, Japan and Korea where he was able to mix it with faster cars.
Tost kept them both for next season, with hopes that they'll do better if one has hopes to graduate to the A team, Red Bull Racing.