The Austrian drinks company Red Bull own two F1 teams, the 2010 World Constructors' Champion, Red Bull Racing and the much smaller Scuderia Toro Rosso. (Scuderia Toro Rosso is Italian Team Red Bull). The linage of the team that made its debut in 2006 is the Minardi team that Paul Stoddart sold to Red Bull's owner Dietrich Mateschitz. Originally, Torro Rosso was owned jointly with former F1 driver Gerhard Berger. (Red Bull purchased Berger's 50% ownership at the end of the 2008 season).

The rational for Toro Rosso until the 2010 season was to be Red Bull's junior sister team, to help to develop the skills of new drivers that would then if impressing be promoted to the senior team. The sister status was reformed in 2010, when the team began to compete as a true independent.

Sébastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari will be driving for Toro Rosso in 2011.

 

 Toro Rosso Facts and Stats

Base:	Faenza, Italy
Team Principal:	Franz Tost
Team Principal:	Giorgio Ascanelli
Drivers:	Sebastian Buemi (No. 18)
	Jaime Alguersuari  (No. 19)
Chassis:	Torro Rosso STR6
Engine:	Ferrari
Tyres:	Pirelli
First Season:	2006
Constructors' Championships:	0
Drivers' Championships:	0
Race Victories:	1
Pole Positions:	1
Fastest Laps:	0

The origins of Toro Rosso are the Minardi team that raced from 1985 to 2005. Minardi had a large Italian fan base but very little success on the track. Red Bull purchased the team in late 2005, and as part of the terms of the deal agreed to maintain the team's headquarters in Faenza Italy until at least 2007. The use of an Italian name is a tribute to the team's Italian heritage.

The debut season drivers were Vitantonia Liuzzi and Scott Speed, the chassis was a modified version of the Red Bull 2005 RB1. This pushed to the edge the FIA rule that all teams have to design their own car; however, despite some comment from some teams the matter was not investigated.

The engines used by Toro Rosso caused further friction with other teams. The 2006 regulations required teams to use V8 engines, however the new regulation was relaxed for smaller less well financed teams who were allowed to run the older V10 engines with rev limiters and air intake restrictions. Other teams, especially Super Aguri and Midland (both poorly funded) felt that the allowance for a now well-financed team created an unfair advantage for Toro Rosso. Whilst the argument may have had merit, the FIA ruling continued.

Whilst Toro Rosso did finish ninth in the constructors', beating Super Aguri and Midland, they only managed one point scoring finish, and eighth place and one point for Liuzzi in the USA GP.  

Toro Rosso took over from Red Bull the Ferrari V8 engine supply contract in 2007, the team retained Liuzzi and Scott Speed, however, after disappointing results and disagreements with senior management Speed was dropped and replaced by a young German driver, Sebastian Vettel. The season was disappointing, but an improvement on 2006. The highlight was a double point finish at the penultimate race of the season, the Chinese GP; Vettel finished in fourth and Liuzzi in sixth, the eight points scored secured the team a seventh place finish in the championship. The considerable driving skills of Vettel were apparent, and it was not a surprise when the team retained him for the 2008 season. Liuzzi was dropped and replaced by Sébastien Bourdais.

The season started poorly for Vettel; retiring from the first four races and finishing in seventeenth place in the fifth race. Bourdais was a little more successful, finishing in a point scoring seventh place at the Australian GP.

The team performance in general, and Vettel's in particular, steadily improved throughout the season. Vettel scoring his first points of the season with a fifth place finish in Monaco. The team's first joint point scoring performance was at the Belgian GP, in wet conditions Vettel was fifth and Bourdais seventh. The season highlight and an illustration of the incredible skills processed by Vettel were displayed at the Italian GP. The qualifying season was held in changeable wet conditions, remarkably Vettel claimed pole position, a first for him and the team. It was widely anticipated that Vettel would be rapidly caught in the race and his pole merely a lucky apparition. Vettel, in a slower car than most on the grid, held off the chasing pack to win his and Torro Rosso's first race. Remarkably, his win for the junior Red Bull owned team came before the Red Bull Racing's first victory. (This was the first win for an Italian based team, outside of Ferrari, since the 1957 season when Juan Manuel Fangio won the German GP for Maserati.

Vettel was clearly in a different league to his teammate and indeed many others in faster cars, at the next race in Singapore he was once again fast, qualifying in seventh place and finishing in fifth. (Bourdais was twelfth). Once again in Japan Vettel's sixth place finish confirmed his status as a remarkable talent.

At the final race of the season in Brazil, Vettel finished in fourth place, and ended the season in a fabulous eighth place in the drivers' championship. He not only beat his teammate (easily) he also beat Mark Webber who was driving for the senior Red Bull team and had a faster car. Vettel's performance ensured that Torro Rosso beat Red Bull in the constructors' finish the season in sixth place.

Sebastien Vettel was promoted to Red Bull for the 2009 season, and was replaced at Torro Rosso by Sebastien Buemi. Sebastien Bourdais kept his seat, but due to a lacklustre performance was replaced in July by the very young Jaime Alguersuari. Few, including team Boss Franz Tost, thought the 2009 season would be as successful as 2008, the loss of Vettel would inevitably result in poorer track performance. 

The team managed to score points on six occasions, but the season was very disappointing, and Toro Rosso slipped into tenth and last place in the constructors' championship. Despite Alguersuari not finishing in a point scoring position in the eight races in which he participated, he was retained for the 2010 season along with his teammate Sebastien Buemi.

In 2010 three of the new teams, Virgin, HRT and Lotus performed spectacularly poorly and such somewhat masked Toro Rosso's disappointing season. The team scored points seven times, with the best result, eighth for Buemi at the Canadian GP. It is hard to judge the balance of poor performance of driver or car, nevertheless both drivers are confirmed for 2011, and it is reasonable to assume the team accept that the car must improve in 2011 in order to continue to at least outperform the three ridiculously slow teams of 2010.

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