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Toro Rosso got their season off to a dismal start as reliability issues meant the team couldn't run as smoothly as they would have liked to at the first week of pre-season testing. They completed the least amount of laps of any team, immediately placing them on the back foot.
Team principal Franz Tost has come out with some ambitious comments, stating that he expects the team to be right behind Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari.
"We don't know how much fuel all the other teams are running, but I am optimistic that Toro Rosso will be in the front part of this midfield," said Tost.
"This week about our car: it looks good, it looks fast, and the drivers are doing a good job. If we get everything under control from the technical side, I am convinced we can achieve our goal."
Technical director James Key was asked who he thought would be the closest rivals to the team in what is expected to be a close and intense midfield battle.
"I think Haas looks quite reasonable," he replied. "We have to see how that develops next week and into Melbourne. But they have done a good job. Renault - it could be tight with them, we have to see. They look on balance more competitive than they did last year."
Fergal Walsh
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Replies (6)
Login to replyf1fan0101
Posts: 1,804
Tall order, they need to fix their engine problems first
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Assuming its more than hiccups. Seeing as they have the same unit as Red Bull and Renault, and neither of those had any serious hiccups, I think that was an early grinding issue or something rather than a serious reason for concern.
f1fan0101
Posts: 1,804
Lets hope so, I want to see that STR12 at it's full potential
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Preferably we will have a season with less reliability problems compared to earlier seasons. Last year was OK, but I was disappointed by Ferrari's lack of reliability. If the first practice season is anything to go by, they've managed to sort that out though.
mbmwe36
Posts: 533
It'll be interesting to see what they can do with a competitive engine. I don't think it's entirely unrealistic to be best of the rest.
boudy
Posts: 1,168
Not so sure. There always seems to be an issue with either the engine/car or management problems. Can see them falling behind. We will see.