Franz Tost: STR9 was Toro Rosso's best F1 car

Toro Rosso had to settle for seventh place in the Championship, being unable to display the same performances as the first six teams of the 2014 season. The team from Faenza (Italy) lost 125 points behind Force India then that she was only able to collect 30 units at the end of the 19 Grands Prix. However, this is her best result in the Manufacturers' Championship since 2008 when she took sixth position.

The STR9s had to progress at the same time as the Power Unit of Renault who experienced ignition delays. “The major rule changes have prepared us for a high percentage of dropouts, but the paddock expected worse », however recalled Franz Tost, the Team Principal of Toro Rosso, on the stable website. “We have improved reliability during the season: we are counting ten retirements in 38 starts, but nine of them occurred during the first ten testss, until the German Grand Prix (at Hockenheim). One of them was due to a collision, five to an internal problem at Toro Rosso, and four from the Power Unit. Jean-Éric Vergne finished all the races after Austria (11 Grands Prix in a row). So that means we are on the right track in this area and we plan to stay there in 2015.”

Si Red Bull hoped to do better before observing the level of development of V6 turbo / hybrid Mercedes, the results are still satisfactory for the director of the Italian team. “We should have finished at least sixth in the Constructors' Championship and we didn't achieve that, but we can be pleased with the progress made compared to previous seasons. We have also improved in other areas. The STR9 was the best car of Toro Rosso so far. All the developments worked. We have also made progress with manufacturing. The pieces were of better quality and the whole was much more harmonious. I congratulate all the staff. »