Tost hopes Key will become a “fixture” at Toro Rosso

F1 Fanatic round-up

Posted on

| Written by

In the round-up: Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost says new technical director James Key didn’t settle in at Sauber and hopes he has a longer stay at his team.

Links

Your daily digest of F1 news, views, features and more.

Franz Tost Q&A – P6 the target for Toro Rosso (F1)

“He was with Jordan when I met him – he was the data engineer of Ralf Schumacher – and stayed with the same team through its many metamorphoses. Then he switched to Sauber and for whatever reason he didn’t feel so much at home there, and then he came to us. Hopefully he’ll be a fixture in our team for the next couple of years.”

Accidente de Hamilton en su debut con Mercedes (Antena3)

Video of Lewis Hamilton’s crash yesterday.

Motor racing-The waiting is almost over for Bottas (Reuters)

Valtteri Bottas: “I think the last race I’ve done was an F3 Macau race at the end of 2011. It’s been a while, but it doesn’t feel like that. I feel like I am definitely ready to race.”

Caterham plays down exhaust row (Autosport)

Cyril Abiteboul: “We are quite flattered that James Allison is paying attention to what is happening at our exhausts. There are different ways of looking at it, and definitely we are outside of the cone.”

Second day of testing at Jerez (Ferrari)

Felipe Massa: “In the morning, I didn’t even do a flying lap because we used the time available to do constant speed runs and to analyse various aerodynamic solutions. All the changes to the car took longer than planned, but in the afternoon, I managed to do three long runs which were very important in order to understand which direction we need to follow in the coming days.”

Grounded Kingfisher Airlines posts Rs 755 crore [£90.8m] loss in Q3 (The Times of India)

“KFA CMD Vijay Mallya admitted in his notes with the accounts that ‘the company has incurred substantial losses and its net worth has been eroded’ but said: ‘the company is in constant dialogue with DGCA and is confident of meeting DGCA requirements for renewal of the permit and re-start of its operations at the earliest.'”

Race on thin ice as GP revs up (The Age)

“Watched by Melbourne Grand Prix chairman Ron Walker, making his first public appearance since it became known he was fighting a serious illness, former V8 Supercar driver Cameron McConville performed complete spins in the two-seater racer on the Icehouse rink at Docklands on Tuesday.”

One for the road (ESPN)

“Having stepped into the ailing Honda concern at the end of 2007 and been presented with a dog of a car, Ross Brawn politely talked more about 2009 than the coming season – and with good cause, as it turned out.”

Max Chilton on Marussia crash just after launch in Jerez (MinWashingtonNews via YouTube)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZysMZFnCLvQ

Tweets

Comment of the day

GT_Racer on Sky’s plans to show F1 testing in 3D:

This isn’t something been done by FOM and FOM will have no involvement in it.

This is sky taking there own equipment and staff to cover the test themselves & there live broadcast will not be available to any other broadcaster.

There won’t be any in-car cameras, Depending on what system TSL use at the test’s there may not be any live on-screen timing graphics and the coverage is unlikely to be anywhere near as comprehensive as what you get during a race weekend.

As for FOM, As I said in an earlier post they have already done there own 3D trials and were not impressed so don’t expect FOM to take the race coverage 3D anytime soon.

Final point, 3D cameras take a lot longer to setup & ensuring you get the 3D effect requires specific camera locations for 3D and a specific way of operating the cameras (In terms of panning/zooming). This is why 3D is harder to do for live events, especially fast paced sporting events like F1.

Based on my experiences with 3D & everything I’ve seen/heard from motorsport broadcasters who have tried 3D already, I expect this to be a one-time thing which sky won’t do again. It may be a bit of a novelty for the 3D viewers but again since i don’t expect it to work I think most will end up switching over to the standard HD coverage.
GT_Racer

From the forum

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Victor and Rebecca!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Force India launched their first F1 car five years ago today. The team got off to a slow start in F1, failing to score a point during the season:

It’s also Christian Klien’s birthday – the former Red Bull and HRT driver is 30 today.

Image © Red Bull/Getty

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

28 comments on “Tost hopes Key will become a “fixture” at Toro Rosso”

  1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
    7th February 2013, 0:47

    I’m not denying Toro Rosso is the “kinder” for Red Bull, the “big brother” which tries to find another Vettel, who knows, probably to replace Webber eventually, or if the German somehow lands in anotehr team in a couple of years. Whatever the situation, it’s a key factor to try to turn this “kindergarten” into a high school”, I mean, a real midfield team which can mix with the big ones more often than not, and complicate the efforts of Ferrari, Lotus or McLaren. If Toro Rosso can really improve, it will be of great importance for the next 2014 change (so it’s also not so strange to think in a change to Renault engines, to get some technology from Red Bull)

    1. and complicate the efforts of Ferrari, Lotus or McLaren

      It’s good to see Vettel’s fan admitting that the table is tilted.

      If the main reason for Toro Rosso improving is so that they can assist Red Bull in a way second driver is supposed to assist the main one, then it’s obvious something needs to change.

      1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
        7th February 2013, 13:01

        @brace thanks for the comment. Yes, despite I can be the fan of Red Bull / Vettel, It’s undeniable to see that the 2 teams have just oe owner. Probably the issue could have been avoided at the very beginning, when Minardi was sold to them. Maybe FIA /FOM should have foreseen the possible outcome of the move. Is there any rule out there to prevent Red Bull buying a third team? That would be worrying, cause as fan I want to see races as fair as possible, and having 4 backup cars WOULD BE, in fact, unfair.
        We’ve seen so far that at least Toro Rosso races quite fairly and thanks goodness last year “main” crashes didn’t come from Toro Rossos, but from a third-party Renault. Imagine the conspiracy theories which would have arisen if Vergne had been Alonso’s doom in Spa and Suzuka!

        1. Probably the issue could have been avoided at the very beginning, when Minardi was sold to them. Maybe FIA /FOM should have foreseen the possible outcome of the move.

          If memory suits me well, at the time the choice was between either having the grid drop to 8 teams or having Mateschitz buying it. Not hard to understand this was preferrable.
          As for the question of avoiding it, they could have probably denied the team an entry due to the new ownership, although thats not all that clear cut.

    2. I have a distinct feeling if Toro Rosso begin to interfere with the results though (with a more competitive car) then talks will be being had between themselves, Red Bull and the FIA. I am not aware of any regulation which would forbid possible team orders between separate teams but I am sure that is something Ferrari and indeed the rest of the field will push to have enforced if that situation ever arises, which it hasn’t currently to any meaningful consequence.

  2. Keith the Hamilton video won’t work?

    Gutted the car ran into more trouble today not including the barrier.. ;) would love to see how Mercedes are shaping up. still two days to go right!?

    Also the McLaren looks so much better out on track. Still a Lewis fan but McLaren are my team!

    1. still two days to go right!?

      That, plus eight days in Barcelona two weeks from now.

      1. I was referring to Jerez but yes you’re correct.

    2. I got an error message suggesting that since I wasn’t in Spain, I couldn’t watch the Hamilton video.

      At least, I think that’s what it said. My Spanish is a little rusty; it could have been saying something rude to me and I’m fairly sure I wouldn’t notice.

    3. @nemo87 Wouldn’t work for me either, but I found a link on YouTube

  3. Tost should have said- ‘hope Key becomes a key figure’

    1. Yes! We need way more cheesiness in F1 ;)

    2. From this interview, and from what Keith wrote yesterday, it does seem that STR is getting back to actually setting itself targets and having a goal, other than just being the playground for RBR development drivers.

      I do hope they manage to keep that up and really become a team with its own spirit so fans can actually feel positive about them, apart from being a part of Red Bull.

  4. Reading The Age article, I noticed this gem:

    Despite recent controversy over the sanction fee for the March 14-17 event reportedly rising to just over $34 million.

    I see they neglect to mention that they were the ones to stir up the controversy in the first place, and that when they use phrases like this:

    The irony of a formula one car spinning its wheels on an ice rink seemed to be lost in all the hoopla and rhetoric at the launch of next month’s Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park.

    With the long-term future of the race on slippery ground after renewed claims and criticisms of its annual cost, a formula one car skating on thin ice was more like a metaphor than a stunt to open the show.

    It’s obvious that they have no intention of letting go any time soon.

    Also, I have to question this part:

    Former V8 Supercar driver Cameron McConville performed complete spins in the two-seater racer on the Icehouse rink.

    Why McConville? Why? He was an average driver at best during his career, and during his time in the commentary box for Channel Ten (and sister station ONEHD), he always seemed to resent the Formula 1 drivers because he wasn’t in Formula 1 himself. Having him as ambassador for the Grand Prix would be like consciously deciding that Jerome d’Ambrosio is the best driver to represent the sport when the likes of Hamilton and Alonso and Vettel have all volunteered to do it.

    1. McConville was just doing the driving. Chelsea Scanlan is the ambassador for the F1 event and Winterbottom the abassador for the V8s as far as I can tell. It’s a pretty pointless role either way, couldn’t give two shakes who does it.

      As for the Melbourne f1 bashing, it’s gonna get a hell of a lot worse as we get closer to 2016… Best not to take notice of it, getting riled up’s a fruitless exercise. Gotta admit though, spinning some 2 seater that’s an abhorrent representation of an F1 car on ice is a mighty odd way to promote the race.

      1. What are Chelsea Scanlan’s motorsport credentials?

  5. At least Lewis is comfortable with Mercedes current situation, this will prevent him from sinking into desperation…

  6. Maybe The Age should be doing an about-face on their stance about the Grand Prix. Today, federal authorities in Australia announced that they had discovered evidence of widespread and systemic blood-doping, potential match-fixing and ties to organised crime in all codes of Australian sport – football, rugby league and union, AFL and cricket (and that’s just the ones that have been announced) – that has been facilitated from the very top of the Australian sporting hierachy. Meanwhile, V8 Supercars has been indirectly implicated in the Eddie Obeid corruption case – the largest public inquiry since the Joh Bjelke-Petersen case and the Fitzgerald Inquiry into corruption in the Queensland state police service in the 1980s – with allegations that bribes were paid by a former state government minister to set up the Sydney 500 at Homebush Bay (among dozens of other alleged bribes).

    As Europe wakes up today, Australian sport is pretty much in tatters. All the sporting codes have been tainted by the scandal, and even the federal police are unsure of exactly how far the rot goes. Whatever happens, the 2013 season is going to start under the cloud of suspicion and scandal as investigators try to get to the root of it all. Now that the Australian Open tennis tournament has wrapped up, Melbourne – the self-proclaimed sporting capital of the nation – is going to need a big event to help keep its reputation intact. The Australian Grand Prix is the biggest event that is scheduled to take place in the next two months or so, so I’m betting that The Age will at least tone down the rhetoric, if not become a quiet supporter of the race going ahead.

    1. Drop Valencia!
      7th February 2013, 10:33

      I wonder what would happen if an F1 driver was caught injecting animal blood to increase performance, technically it’s not against the rules…

      1. Tomas Enge tested positive to marijuana a few years ago. I’m not sure what happened to him, but I imagine the FIA suspended his racing licence.

        1. yes, they did indeed suspend his racing license (I think it was for a year) last I saw he is racing in GT class again.

          As for Animal blood – I would think we would see that driver being seriously ill rather than winning much “Drop Valencia” and the medicaments he would be taking to keep his body from rejecting said blood ARE likely to be on the list of forbidden substances.

          1. Drop Valencia!
            7th February 2013, 22:56

            BasCB, in the last 48 hours, entire football teams in Australia have been found to be doing it (calf blood extract), apparently it is only banned if used intravenously, no WADA rule against injecting it into muscle!

          2. @bascb

            As for Animal blood – I would think we would see that driver being seriously ill

            My personal favourite is Cerebrolysin, an enzyme extracted from a pig’s brain.

          3. Yes, I read about that after commenting here Drop Valencia. I guess we keep learning how far people go in cheating, eh!
            At the same time the FIFA and police are now pretty far with their investigation in match selling in European/ worldwide football as well, lets hope F1 can stay far from these kind of things then!

  7. That ESPN feature is funny… but sadly those times seem to be over for now. No excessive fun allowed! Damn those wrist bands.

  8. Re: cotd.

    THEIR equipment. GAH!

    BEING done!

    Rant over.

Comments are closed.