Scuderia Toro Rosso unveiled its 2011 racer, the STR6, to the media’s attention at Valencia today.
The junior squad to Red Bull Racing, the STR6 follows this season’s style for higher-nosed design.
This is the second car to be produced entirely in-house by Toro Rosso since the team’s arrangement to use chassis provided by Red Bull Technologies had to be brought to an end.
Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari remain with Scuderia Toro Rosso for the 2011 season, with former British Formula 3 champion Daniel Ricciardo promoted to a third driver role that will see him running in Friday practice at each Grand Prix.
Jaime Alguersuari says the 2011 season will be “key” for him, as Toro Rosso eyes a step forward with its new STR6.
Alguersuari made his grand prix debut with the Faenza squad in 2009, before completing his first full season with the team last year.
He scored five points on his way to 19th place in the standings.
The Toro Rosso driver believes 2011 will be decisive for his, and the team’s, future in F1.
“I think it is definitely a key season for me this year,” said Alguersuari as the team unveiled its 2011 challenger at Valencia.
“Every season is important and definitely this one is going to be very significant for myself, because it is my second full year in Formula 1 and because it is the second year that Toro Rosso builds its own car, so it will be completely decisive for our future, for the future of Toro Rosso and for my future, because we obviously need to target our competitors which are Williams, Force India and Sauber.
“We need to fight against them and finish the championship ahead of them.”
The Spaniard also reckons that stability within the team will be a boost for him, as he aims for a stronger season than last year.
“Yes, of course, I think to stay with the same team, definitely the same engineers and with the same people and mechanics in the background in Faenza, knowing the whole team for one and a half years is quite important and definitely will help me a lot this season,” he said.
“I am really looking forward to the start of the year because they know what they can expect from my side and I know more or less what I can expect from my engineer and the people that work for me.
“So I expect a lot for this season from the car and on the development side.”
Source: Autosport.com
Q&A with Jaime Alguersuari:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89197
Q&A with Franz Tost:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89200
Q&A with Giorgio Ascanelli:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89201
The season hasn’t even begun yet, but Toro Rosso already have a firm idea about where in the standings they want to end the year. At the launch of their new car, the STR6, in Valencia on Tuesday the Italian team made it clear they are aiming for eighth in the constructors’ championship, after finishing 2010 in ninth place.
The 2011 season will be Toro Rosso’s sixth in Formula One competition and the second year they’ve designed their car in-house, at their Faenza factory and their Bicester wind tunnel facility. For technical director Giorgio Ascanelli it’s exciting to finally see his ambitious car design hit the track.
“This year the tools which design the car in its performance aspect, which are again the wind tunnel and CFD, are more mature, which means that although we are still learning how to make the best of them I think we have started using them properly,” Ascanelli explained.
“The change in rules has led us to make some 14 changes and yes, we think we have been a little bit more ambitious than last year. For this year, we have to aim for eighth place, because that is our target and I didn’t think that was possible if we had gone with some sort of conventional car.
“It’s an ambitious way, if it doesn’t work that will be my responsibility and I am going to take it. We will try to do better and we will try to fulfil our mission which is at the end of 2011, we want to have a 2012 which is better than 2011.”
Team Principal Franz Tost is just as determined to push the team further up the order in 2011.
“The past five years have shown a good history for the team, as we had to build everything up almost from zero,” said Tost. “We are quite confident that we have a good future and can have a good year in 2011.
“The first hope is that we perform well, with a good, fast, competitive car. Apart from that, we need the drivers and the team to do a good job and if all these components come together then I am convinced we can have a good season and close the gap to our direct competitors.”
Toro Rosso will once again field Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari for the 2011 season. The two drivers racked up just eight and five points respectively in 2010, and it’s clear both want to make more of an impression on the scoreboard this year.
“I have big expectations to be honest, as I have quite a lot of experience now. I know all the circuits, I know how Formula One works and we also have quite a lot of experience in terms of building up the car,” said Buemi. “We switched the focus to the 2011 car pretty early in the season last year, so I have big hopes for the start of the season and how things will work out. So, if all goes well and hopefully it will, we should be able to score many points and finish in the top eight of the constructors’ championship.”
Alguersuari added: “I think it is definitely a key season for me this year. Every season is important and definitely this one is going to be very significant for myself, because it is my second full year in Formula One and because it is the second year that Toro Rosso builds its own car, so it will be completely decisive for our future, for the future of Toro Rosso and for my future, because we obviously need to target our competitors which are Williams, Force India and Sauber. We need to fight against them and finish the championship ahead of them.”
In a change from 2010, the two drivers will alternate in handing their car over to reserve driver Daniel Ricciardo for Friday morning practice sessions of race weekends. Combined with his drive in the World Series championship, it will mean a busy year for Ricciardo, but the Australian is ready for the challenge.
“I think it will hit me in Bahrain, when I’m rolling out of pit lane for the very first time!” he said. “I’ll be on the same track with guys I’ve been watching for ten years or so and it will be good fun. I’m sure I’ll enjoy it and from then on, as I drive the session I’m sure it will feel as normal as it can. Hopefully I will seize the opportunity with both hands and see where it goes from there. I expect to be working with the team for the rest of the weekend too. It will be to my benefit, to learn as much as I can from the other drivers.”
The STR6 is already on track at Valencia, with Alguersuari in the cockpit. The team will continue to test their new charge over the next three days.
Source: Formula1.com
Daniel Ricciardo says he hopes that he can translate his new Friday testing role with Scuderia Toro Rosso into a fulltime race seat in 2012.
Speaking at the launch of the team’s new STR6 challenger, the 21-year-old Australian explained that while his full schedule as test and reserve driver was yet to be defined, he was focussed on making the most of the opportunity.
“I would love to be racing in Formula 1 in 2012 full time, as always I try not to look at it too much,” he said. “I think if I can learn as much as I can and do a good job I the Friday practice then hopefully it will set me up for something in the future.”
Ricciardo indicated that he expected to get a fair amount of running in the morning practice session on Fridays during the season, though his schedule would be dictated by his availability when not racing in Formula Renault 3.5.
“I knew Red Bull has the best interests for me and it was a good season last year, so even though I missed out on the championship I knew that I would find something good for me in 2011 and they pulled through which is good and I’ve got a good menu this year,” he explained.
“I wouldn’t say [my schedule is] fully defined but it’s free practice one – that definitely is the programme.
“I think eventually some races clash with World Series so that’s yet to be confirmed, but definitely Friday first practice and try and see what I can do in there. I think the procedure will be very similar to what Force India or a few other teams did last year.”
Source: Autosport.com