Toro Rosso turns the page

Si Toro Rosso is one of the two most modest teams on the current field of Formula 1, it is now the most unloved team in France, following the premature ousting of Sébastien Bourdais. But Franz Tost, rather than elaborating, prefers to turn to the next Grand Prix of the season, next weekend in Hungary, and take stock of this first half of the season. “ We got off to a fantastic start, scoring points in Australia then China and later Monaco. Then, from there, we lost contact with the other teams. First, because the latter have progressed, regularly making improvements. We have introduced a few changes, but nothing major. For example, we are the only team to have never ridden with a double diffuser. For what ? These are for financial reasons. Rather than bearing the cost of regular improvements, we chose to preserve our budget and make a major improvement during the Hungarian Grand Prix. Then, apart from the limitation of the development of the car, we have a driver who did not meet our expectations. »

If he was not talkative about the ousting of Sébastien Bourdais, Franz Tost judges the mid-season performances of his other driver, Sébastien Buemi. If the Swiss has not yet achieved great performances, the STR manager imagines a more prolific 2010 season. “ Buemi did a good job. It should be noted that as the only rookie on the grid, he is the most penalized by the ban on testing during the season. Furthermore, he had never driven in Formula 1 on circuits like Silverstone or the Nürburgring. Even if he has already frequented them in F3 and in GP2, it's not the same thing, F1 is much more complex. Details, such as track conditions, may change from Friday afternoon to Saturday morning. Until this year, we did three days of testing at Silverstone before the British GP, but also for other races. But we can't have everything: if we save money by reducing testing, we also penalize young drivers. But we can say that Buemi will be a complete driver for the 2010 season. »