Toro Rosso Formula One Auto Racing Team

Up-and-Coming Toro Rosso F1 Racing Team

The Scuderia Toro Rosso F1 Racing Team is an exciting new team which made its racing debut in 2006. Formerly known as the Minardi team, the team was purchased by Red Bull and former racer Gerhard Berger in 2005 in a 50/50 partnership, and renamed Scuderia Toro Rosso which is Italian for Red Bull Race Team. The team is currently being organised and run as a sister development team to the already well-established Red Bull Racing Team. Franz Tost is the team principal and the team currently has three drivers – Vitantonio Liuzzi, Scott Speed and Neel Jani.

The Toro Rosso F1 Racing Team made their racing debut at the 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix. Though they did not have any noteworthy wins by the end of their first year of racing, the team is young and strong and there is plenty of room for growth. In fact, the team was designed to help develop the skills of promising drivers and all three young men definitely fall into that category. The team is currently based in Faenza, Italy, as was stipulated by Paul Stoddart, the former boss of Minardi, upon sale of the team. It will remain in Faenza until at least the end of 2007 whereupon the new owners will have the option of changing the headquarter location.

Just like the Red Bull Team, the Toro Rosso team forms part of Red Bull’s innovative marketing strategy. The team has found a legal way to make use of the same chassis as the 2005 Red Bull’s Racing’s RB1. This has caused some controversy since these engines are much bigger and more powerful than those available to many competing cars. This has also resulted in qualification problems for the team. However, since the team is still in its infancy, these problems are likely to be sorted out over time and you can be certain that the Toro Rosso Team will be running more smoothly in the near future. In the 2007 season the team will be taking over the senior teams contract with Ferrari which will allow them to make use of Ferrari V8 engines. This is sure to make a huge difference to the team and many fans expect to start seeing results soon.