A look at the profile of Formula 1 team, Scuderia Toro Rosso – Part 1
Toro Rosso became a part of Formula 1 back in 2006. It is a part of Red Bull Racing as well and in fact, Toro Rosso is an Italian phrase which means ‘Red Bull.’
The team has been considered as the junior team for Red Bull Racing, who are the world champions of 2010.
The team came into being after Dietrich Mateschitz bought the remaining shares of a team called Minardi. Minardi was then converted into Toro Rosso and since then, the team has improved massively and they are now considered as a mid-running team of the sport.
Minardi on the other hand was a back-running team in the sport and they barely scored points during their respective tenure.
However, Toro Rosso started off with the right attitude and in their very first season, they were able to finish in 9th place in the constructors’ standings. Vitantonio Liuzzi was the first driver to give the team its first points
at the US Grand Prix which took place at Indianapolis.
The team used Cosworth engines in its first year after which they decided to shift to Ferrari engines in 2007. Since then the team has been using Ferrari engines despite the fact that in their first season using these engines was quite tough for them.
The team secured a total of 8 points in the 2007 Formula 1 season to finish in the 7th place in the constructors’ standings with the help of a newly signed Sebastian Vettel. Tonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed were the two drivers alongside
him in the team and at this point, it was quite clear that the team was a mid-running team rather than a back-running team.
Their consistency carried on in the 2008 Formula 1 season where the team scored some extremely impressive results. This was the best statistical performance to date by the team as they secured the 6th place in the constructors’ standings with the help of
39 points.
Other than that, the team with the help of Sebastian Vettel delivered a major blow to the Formula 1 world as the 2010 Formula 1 world champion secured his first pole position of his career in 2008 followed by an amazing race win for the team.
After this performance, the young German driver proved his worth and showed that he did not join the sport just for some mid-field point-scoring finishes.
This performance was a shocker for Red Bull Racing as well as the Toro Rosso car back then was not quite competitive and this race win was secured mainly because of Vettel’s outstanding driving skills.
He secured these results at the Italian Grand Prix and it was quite amazing for the team as Monza is a European track and is one of the fastest tracks in the Formula 1 calendar.
The team was unable to score a single victory other than this one and the following year, Toro Rosso was unable to retain Sebastian Vettel as the team’s parent team Red Bull Racing immediately signed the young German for the 2009 Formula 1 season.
Nevertheless, Toro Rosso’s journey continued and they went on to score some pretty good results in the future as well after which they became an even more competitive team in the mid-field.
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