Current AlphaTauri (formerly Toro Rosso)

Toro Rosso

FIA Entry: Scuderia Toro Rosso
Car 18: Sebastien Buemi
Car 19: Jamie Alguersuari
Engine: Ferrari V8
Team Principa:l Franz Tost
Technical Director: Giorgi Ascanelli
Race Engineer Car 18: Riccardo Adami
Race Engineer Car 19:Andrea Landi

Stats as of end 2010

First Entered 2006
Races Entered 90
Race Wins 1
Pole Positions 1
Fastest Laps 0
Driver World Championships 0
Constructor World Championships 0

The Beginning

Toro Rosso took over the Minardi entry in F1 in 2006. Minardi took part in 345 Grands Prix between 1985 and 2005 without a single win, podium, pole or fastest lap but were the starting point for double World Champion Fernando Alonso and race winners Mark Webber and Jarno Trulli.

Red Bull Takeover

At the end of 2005 current Minardi team owner Paul Stoddart sold the team to Red Bull to allow them to create a “Junior” team to bring new driver talent into F1. The Red Bull take over resulted in a change of name to Squadra Toro Rosso and then Scuderia Toro Rosso amidst much complaint from Minardi fans. For their first season in 2006 drivers Vitantonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed used the STR1 chassis, which was essentially the Red Bull RB1 car. These were fitted with rev and air flow limited 3.0 litre Ford engines to allow Toro Rosso to compete in the new 2.4 litre formula in place for 2006.

Liuzzi scored a point for the team at the US Grand Prix, a race where only 9 cars finished. The development of the new engines by the other teams put Toro Rosso in a very uncompetitive position and they tended to qualify toward the back of the grid and run in those positions in the race.

Ferrari Customer

With the senior Red Bull team moving to Renault power for 2007 Toro Rosso picked up their Ferrari engine contract. Speed and Liuzzi continued as drivers. The STR2 proved unreliable and both drivers made mistakes during the year leading to speculation that they would be replaced. Speed eventually lost his seat to BMW test driver, and Red Bull junior driver, Sebastien Vettel. In changeable weather at the Chinese Grand Prix Vettel bought his car home 4th with Liuzzi 6th.

For 2008 Vettel was joined by reigning Champ Car Series winner Sebastien Bourdais as Liuzzi moved to Force India. Bourdais finished 7th at the opening race of the season in Australia and Vettel then took 4th in Monaco. As the season progressed Vettel in particular was a regular points scorer and in wet qualifying at the Italian Grand Prix put his car on pole. The rain continued into race day and Vettel went on to win the race becoming the youngest ever Grand Prix victor. More points finishes for Vettel in the final races of the season put Toro Rosso 6th in the Constructors Championship and earned him a place in the Red Bull senior team for 2009.

Sebastien Buemi joined Bourdais for 2009 and after the highs of 2008 the team came back down to earth in ’09. Bourdais was dismissed mid season due to poor race results and Jaime Alguersuari took his seat for the remainder of the season. The drivers managed a few low points finished but the team dropped to 10th in the Constructors Championship.

Buemi and Alguersuari continued for 2010 and again picked up some minor points placing’s, helped by the revised points scoring system for the season. The team finished 9th in the Constructors Championship but were the lowest placed of the established F1 teams.

2011

Toro Rosso continue with the same driver line up in 2011 and, with the STR6 car and Ferrari engines, hope they can move further up the grid.

 

[Il_leone]

Yes the Red Bull programme is brutal and can end a drivers F1 career with the unfortunate stigma if you were not good enough for Red Bull then not good enough for us

Unfortunately it has also messed the careers of

Liuzzi - who was brilliant until he got into F1 but was never given a fair crack with Red Bull and it seems to be a magnet for getting bad drives

Algarsuari - he was thrown into the deep end even though he was not physically ready - he crashed at Suzuka because his neck muscles could not take the strain of the high speed nature of the circuit

 

[Fenderman]

Hmm , the thing of it is though that without Red Bull's rookie programme those guys may not have had a shot at an F1 career at all. I for one have difficulty with blaming them ruining careers they would otherwise not have had. Um, not sure I said that very well but I'm knackered.

 

[Il_leone]

Fenderman
Liuzzi had an F1 career but no stability apart from 2 years at Toro Rosso I think every team he joined he has only lasted a season

His first season in F1 was ridiculous instead given a full season to get use to the team and car he was on a shared seat agreement with Christian Klein which actually ended up being 4 races ..hardly the sort of start you want to f1 career


Algarsuari as stated was thrown into F1 when he was not really ready 2009 due to the fall out Toro Rosso had with Bourdais but what did he do wrong in 2011 then to be dropped given he finished in similar positions Ricciardo did last season

 

[soccerman17]

Il_leone Ricciardo's only advantage over Alguersuari was timing

 

[Il_leone]

soccerman17 very true indeed..given the fact Ricciardo made the headlines when he was fastest in a Toro Rosso testing the day after Vettel became world champion at Abu Dhabi in 2010

that was helped by the fact the track had been rubbered down from the weekend finale race

Helmut Marko's persistent pressure on Webber finally paid off saying Ricciardo and Vergne were fighting to replace Webber at Red Bull

the endless Vettel beating and internal politics took its effects on Webber finally to leave F1

 

[Fenderman]

It seems to be Torro Rosso's standard custom and practice to keep a driver for two or two and a half seasons. It's up to the driver and his management as to where they go from there.Hardly a case for accusing them of destroying drivers careers.

 

[soccerman17]

Il_leone I was mainly just going with the part where Red Bull had an open seat while Ricciardo was waiting in the wings but not while Alguersuari was. But all the rest is true as well, I guess I never really thought of his test at Abu Dhabi in that way, although it was a Red Bull not a Toro Rosso. But his times both there and at Jerez late in 2009 in Red Bulls were bloody fast regardless of timing. Not that Alguersuari wasn't though he and Buemi really did bring some excitement and great racing back in the day.

 

[RasputinLives]

So British 'gamer' Jann Mardenborough joins the Red Bull junior programme and will rave in GP3 next year.

http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/2...mardenborough-and-he-will-race-in-gp3-in-2014

I'm very sceptical about drivers learning their trade on Gran Turismo but he has raced in other series and done alright. Still find it a bit odd though. I mean Slash didn't get a spot in Guns 'n' Roses because he was great on Guitar Hero did he?

 

[Road of Bones]

Hmm..has anyone ever made the transition from Guitar Hero to proper musician though? I really don't think so - GH is little more than "Simon Says", and bears almost no relation to actually playing the guitar.

 

[RasputinLives]

Well yes. Playing the guitar myself I often wonder why people don't spend the hours they do on guitar hero actually learning the instrument. I'm sure its far more fun.

I think my point is though that I'm pretty sure if I decided I didn't need to take driving lessons because I'd played a few hours of Need For Speed 2 that I may create chaos on the road.

I guess my question is do driving games really simulate the actual thing?

 

[sushifiesta]

I'm sure Guitar Hero has led to be people learning to play the actual car and in the case above driving games have led to someone becoming a pretty successful racing driver, from the sounds of it. No one is suggesting that we take two people from their living rooms and just dump them straight away on to the F1 grid at Australia or on stage at the O2. The games can be a platform for getting interested in the real thing, and if you are exceptional at the game you must have at least some transferable skills that will help you succeed in the "real world".

 

[RasputinLives]

Well I guess thats what I'm sceptical about. In this case Mardenborough seems to have done a good job but I wonder whether thats more to do with being given the oppotunity and coaching rather than his actual game skills.

I just worry that associating motorsport and gaming you might get a bunch of drivers unprepared for the safety reality of F1 and attempting moves that put their own and other peoples lifes at risk because they see it as a game.

I might be wrong and it might be an old man worry but it does cross my mind.

 

[sushifiesta]

The point is that these people won't be taken from gaming and put straight in to F1, they'll have to work they way up through the feeder series like everyone else. Also, you could already say the teams are using "games" as a vital tool - that's what the simulators essentially are.

 

[F1Yorkshire]

I do have a lot of experience when it comes to driving games and the skill needed to play them.

I can comfortably beat a game such as Gran Turismo on the single player mode but when you join an online racing league the skills some of your opposition has is unbelievable.

I know a few people who I raced with online who actually raced for real as well and there is a definite skill set that can be transferred between the two mediums.
Gran Turismo is known for its realism when it comes to driving physics, it's also not a series where body contact is really really an issue either.

I don't see a problem with a driver using GT or similar to get noticed, if the talent is there why not build on it.

If you watched the tv series that accompanies the GT Academy then you will see it's only a small number of gamers who actually get through to making it on to the actual track itself in a competitive series.

 

[soccerman17]

Well it depends on the settings that you use but if you can drive fast and well in Gran Turismo on full manual with all assists off and AI difficulty all the way up and still win, I'm sure there's a lot of talent there. And its not like hes going straight from Gran Turismo to GP3. Gran Turismo, when played that way, is just like working on the simulator, just not quite as realistic.

 

[teabagyokel]

RasputinLives - I read an article on this - I think it was said that Nissan knew this was a winner when Ordonez first took to the track for them, with a bunch of skeptical engineers, and his tyre burst. Expecting a young GT gamer with no experience of real cars to be frightened like a little bunny rabbit, I believe he radioed back to the pits saying "I need a new tyre" in the calmest voice they'd perhaps ever heard in the situation.

He's got a couple of podiums in LMP2 at le 24 - one of which was with Mardenborough.

To be honest, with the steering wheels and pedals and accessories that can be added to GT on the console, all that is missing for the very top guys is the fear of actually having their arse inches from the ground; if they can cope with that...

It has to be said that it is heartening to see a way into motorsport for talented young men who don't have the money required to participate in karting from roughly 3 months or so before birth.

And I think the results of Ordonez, Mardenborough et al will be the proof of the pudding, when all's said and done.

 

[Fenderman]

Indeed. It will be fascinating to follow the progress of people coming into motor sport from a new direction. Broadening access has to be a good thing for all concerned as their must be a huge untapped pool of talent that is undiscovered due to the financial hurdles of getting started. As person of mixed race I am also pleased to see the prospect of another young black guy aiming for F1. I'll be watching GP3 with somewhat more interest now and really hopes he gets there.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/26185908

 

[Bushi]

For me iracing is the better sim than GT, but i haven't played GT6 yet.

I think Top Gear put a sim racer in real one a few years ago. And he did quite well, if i remember correctly.

Yep here it is:
http://www.topgear.com/uk/photos/geek-rebooted-2010-11-26

 

[RasputinLives]

I stand corrected on this subject then guys. Like I said maybe its an old fuddy duddies misgivings. I shall watch Mardenborough with interest.

As for ethnic diversity in GP3 it does seem that GP3 is the most ethnic diverse of the formulas. Female, Hispanic, Greek, Asian, Slavic etc are all represented and lets not forget Angola's finest Luis Sa Silva who has to race under a Chinese super licence because Angola aren't in with the FIA! GP3 is like one big Coca Cola advert.

 

[RasputinLives]

I am also pleased to see the prospect of another young black guy aiming for F1

On this subject (and I know its off topic) I'll bring to your attention that Zimbabwe's Axcil Jefferies (raised in the UK though) tested for the Trident GP2 team today and is certainly in the running for the spare seat in the team Trident also have a GP3 team too so he could end up there.

Jefferies has started single seater racing in 2009 at 15 with 3 years in Formula Paciffic before taking 2 and a half years off. He jumped back into Formula 2 and Indy Lights last year and got up to speed very quickly.

He's also a representative of Childline and seemingly a lovely lad.