It is too early to name a frontrunner for a seat at Red Bull’s premier team.

That is the claim of Franz Tost, the boss of the energy drink company’s junior team Toro Rosso.

Following the ousting of Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi, the Faenza based outfit has two new Red Bull youngsters to groom in 2012.

Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne are therefore at the front of the queue to potentially replace Mark Webber at the senior team, even though Red Bull chiefs have appeared to indicate that Australian Webber is staying put for now.

So when asked by Austria’s Laola1 whether Ricciardo or Vergne are winning the race to Red Bull Racing so far, Tost insisted: “We have no thoughts about that.

“The important thing is that they continue to develop in every area.”

So far, Frenchman Vergne has four points compared with Ricciardo’s two.

“Jean-Eric is willing to take more risks,” Tost admitted, “while Daniel has a grasp of the car overall with his extra experience.”

 Toro Rosso’s new drivers look set to be given longer than just a single season to prove they can step up to the senior Red Bull team.
Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne have replaced the Faenza based team’s 2011 lineup and are tipped as likely contenders to oust the Australian veteran Mark Webber at Red Bull Racing next year.

But Franz Tost, Toro Rosso’s team principal, said a 2013 promotion for either Ricciardo or Vergne is unlikely.

“I have no idea. But I doubt it, as the level of Red Bull Racing is extremely high,” he told F1′s official website.

“So my guess is that they will have to wait a little more. So far Mark has not given any hint that he is thinking of retirement.”

Tost said Red Bull will only be looking for a driver with the ‘wow-effect’ to replace Webber, so 2013 could be too soon for Australian Ricciardo, or the French rookie Vergne.

“In general I would say that this wow-effect is not so easily manageable in a first season,” said the Austrian. “But it definitely has to be delivered in the second season.

“I don’t have a problem when a driver has a good race and at the next race he has a shunt — that’s part of the game. Both drivers will have a ‘crash period’ but that is part of their development phase,” he insisted.

“It was the same with Sebastian Vettel. But at some point they have to get their game together — and the question is who will be better at doing that? Let’s wait and see.”

Jean-Eric Vergne has revealed he will try to keep the “tension” down to a minimum inside the Toro Rosso garage in 2012.
Team owner Dietrich Mateschitz this week has admitted that, beyond Mark Webber’s 2012 contract, “Our primary goal is to put one of our juniors” alongside Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull.

With Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari ousted by the energy drink’s Faenza based secondary team after 2011, those most eligible juniors are now French rookie Vergne and his new Australian teammate Daniel Ricciardo.

At Jerez last week in the new STR7 car, their rivalry got off to a fascinating start.

By the end of the four days of running, their fastest laps were separated by no more than one hundredth of a second — with Ricciardo enjoying the miniscule edge for the moment.

With a Red Bull seat up for grabs, 21-year-old Vergne admitted to RMC radio that the stakes are high.

But “There was not too much tension,” he insists. “You have to forget about all those different aspects when you think about the work you need to do.

“We had four good days of testing. The engineers are working now for the next test in Barcelona at the end of the month.

“There is a competition with my teammate but at the same time we can’t (let it) go in the wrong direction.

“You always want to beat everybody but my teammate is also the only other person who is working on the very same car as me,” added Vergne.

Toro Rosso counts Caterham – the 2010 start-up team that has failed to score a single point since inception – among its close rivals for 2012.
Last season, the Red Bull-owned rookie team Toro Rosso finished the championship in eighth place with 41 points, well clear of Williams and behind Sauber and Force India.

“Our direct competitors are Sauber, Force India and Caterham,” the Faenza based team’s boss Franz Tost is quoted by autohebdo.fr.

Formerly Lotus, the Tony Fernandes-led Caterham team has been the best of the new 2010 teams including Marussia (nee Virgin) and HRT.

“Caterham has managed to build a good infrastructure,” Tost is quoted as saying.

“They have the Renault engine and a KERS from Red Bull and it means their package is good.

“They have two experienced drivers and I expect they will become our rivals.

“Our goal is to take seventh place in the championship — we must do better than last year,” added Tost.

 Amid the European cold snap, Franz Tost admits he was worried Toro Rosso might be late for its own car launch.
The STR7 was unveiled on Monday in the Jerez pitlane, a day ahead of its testing debut.

“When the trucks left Faenza on Saturday night I was worried we would not arrive in time,” La Gazzetta dello Sport quotes the relieved team boss as saying.

Ultimately, it turned out well, although Daniel Ricciardo – one of Toro Rosso’s new Red Bull-backed rookies – was not overly impressed with the car’s looks.

“It’s not exactly beautiful,” said the Australian, referring to the now notorious ‘stepped’ noses on the 2012 cars, “but I’d rather have a quick car than a pretty one.”

Actually, designer Giorgio Ascanelli is worried the STR7′s nose might not be ugly enough.

“I think we could have made it more aggressive,” said the Italian, “but in the end we had to homologate the car before we could test it.”

Arguably more ugly is the nose on Sauber’s new C31, but Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi isn’t so sure.

“You think it’s ugly?” he told reporters at Jerez. “If everybody has the same style of car then it’s not ugly. Only the McLaren is different, so we will see.”

On McLaren, Kobayashi might have a point.

Of the eight 2012 cars seen so far, all of them have a ‘step’ except the McLaren. And Pedro de la Rosa has hinted that the new HRT will also feature the unattractive solution.

“Like almost everyone one else we have had the idea to have as much area under the car as possible. The regulations force us to do what we have done,” Sauber designer Matt Morris is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

Said Telegraph correspondent Tom Cary: “It begs the question — have McLaren got it wrong?

“Were they ‘sandbagging’ – faking – at last week’s launch? Have they got it right and everyone else got it wrong?”

McLaren’s technical director Paddy Lowe is confident: “We have always had a different philosophy than the others for the front of the car,” he is quoted by Blick newspaper.

Two 2012 cars with ‘step’ noses – Lotus and Sauber – made their track debuts on Monday, ahead of official testing which begins on Tuesday.

Lotus’ technical boss James Allison thinks the E20 is the “most beautiful ugly car” seen so far.

“It feels great in first and second gear,” smiled Kimi Raikkonen, referring to the running for ‘filming purposes’.

Agreed Sauber’s Kobayashi: “I obviously can’t make serious judgements on the car because we had just a promotional day and were running only demo tyres.”

The new Williams will be seen for the first time on Tuesday.

Jaime Alguersuari has admitted he was “hurt” by Red Bull’s late decision to oust him from Toro Rosso.
The 21-year-old announced this week that, amid speculation he might rescue his career with the reserve role at Mercedes, he will in fact be missing entirely from the F1 paddock in 2012.

In a Spanish-language statement, he admitted the career interruption was “unnecessary”.

“At the Brazilian grand prix, my continuity (at Toro Rosso) was confirmed verbally.

“After this confirmation by Red Bull and STR, we turned down a very good deal.

“A few days later, Toro Rosso sent me to the headquarters of (sponsor) Cepsa, and at a dinner I talked about my relationship with Toro Rosso and Cepsa with a script written at Faenza.

“No one has ever explained to me why, having fulfilled the expectations asked of me by the team, improving from 2010 and beating my teammate, I am stopped in December with no time to get a good position in 2012,” said Alguersuari.

He insisted, however, that he is not giving up on F1.

“I am thinking only of F1,” he said. “I am 21, have played 46 grands prix, I’m not a rookie driver anymore.

“Yes to formula one, but not at any price.

“I contacted (HRT team boss) Luis Perez-Sala, my friend and former mentor, in December, but we both agreed — HRT does not have a car for me and I cannot spend everything at my age struggling to improve a car that far behind.

“Williams? That option never even occurred to me as nowadays they only want drivers who pay.

“In January I had discussions with one of the best teams that could be decisive in my future. I was received with great affection and respect and we have opened a path.

“For obvious reasons I cannot reveal the nature of our intention, but what I can say is that I will devote myself body and soul to F1 in 2012.

“I will prepare myself, with no contractual relationships with anyone, to be ready and available for any opportunity that arises.”

Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost has revealed he had no argument when Red Bull poached Sebastian Vettel after the 2008 season.
Vettel, then in his very early 20s, showed immense potential at Red Bull’s Faenza based junior team in 2007 and 2008 before he moved to the parent squad for 2009.

In 2010 and 2011, he won back-to-back world championships, but Toro Rosso’s Tost has no bitterness at the thought that with Vettel on board, the former Minardi team might have been pulled up the grid.

“It (keeping Vettel) was never an issue even for one second,” the Austrian told Sportwoche magazine.

“In that situation, Vettel would not have been allowed to stay with us. It probably would never have been even considered,” added Tost.

He conceded that a large part of Vettel’s success at Toro Rosso in 2008 was due to Red Bull.

“We are ultimately about the future of the drivers and in 2008 we were using the car from Red Bull Technology, designed by Adrian Newey,” added Tost.

And when Vettel left Toro Rosso for Red Bull, Tost said he was sure it would be a formidable alliance.

“It was clear to me that that combination – Red Bull, Vettel and Newey – would be dominating sooner or later,” he said. “In fact they would have taken the title already in 2009 if it wasn’t for the double diffuser story with Brawn.”

But even though he sees Vettel’s departure as inevitable, Tost said he is not happy to simply look back on 2008 as Toro Rosso’s finest hour.

“No, it should be repeated,” he answered confidently. “As often as possible.”

 Jaime Alguersuari’s Red Bull dream is still alive, even though he might lose his Toro Rosso seat after the looming 2011 finale.
The 2012 lineup of the energy drink company’s secondary team remains completely open, with Alguersuari, his current teammate Sebastien Buemi, and also Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne all in the running.

At the very least, however, Spaniard Alguersuari has had less time to develop than has his more experienced teammate Buemi, and 11 more points in the bag so far this season.

And he also sounds confident.

“My goal is to stay with Red Bull,” he is quoted by Brazil’s Totalrace. “I want to stay with them and give them victories.

“I came to F1 without any miles but I have progressed, as has the team. The team goes nowhere without the driver, nor the driver without the team.”

Alguersuari’s hope for 2012, therefore, is that “Toro Rosso confirms me as the driver”.

Beyond that, he is targeting the world championship, but to do that “I need the car and I hope Red Bull give it to me some day”.

For now, he is putting his eggs in the Toro Rosso basket, calling the Faenza based team one “of the future” that is able to “fight for the top (places) in three or four years”.

Toro Rosso will not select from outside of Red Bull’s own talent pool for its 2012 driver lineup, team boss Franz Tost has confirmed.
It is believed Sebastien Buemi, Jaime Alguersuari, and young Red Bull hopefuls Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne, are all in the running for the Faenza based team’s two race seats next year.

“It is 100 per cent certain that next year we will have two Red Bull drivers,” Austrian Tost told the Sportwoche publication.

“That is the meaning and the purpose of why Red Bull bought the team,” he added.

“Our job is to allow young drivers from the Red Bull pool to enter formula one in training for (the move to) Red Bull Racing,” said Tost.

Since the Minardi takeover in 2006, however, the only driver to successfully move from Toro Rosso to the premier team is Sebastian Vettel.

“The reasons for that are simple,” said Tost. “First, he is more talented than the others.

“He is also more disciplined, brings more passion for the sport, is more innovative, open and more flexible in accepting suggestions to make himself better. And that’s why he’s the world champion,” he added.

“In their development too many drivers get to formula one and think ‘Now I have made it’. Actually, the hard work has only just begun. Everything before is kindergarten.

“In formula one you have to live formula one, 100 per cent, yet only a few do that completely,” said Tost.

He is hopeful, but Jean-Eric Vergne insists he is still not sure if he will make his grand prix debut with Toro Rosso next year.
With his World Series season now concluded, the reigning British F3 champion recently began a new role as the Faenza based team’s Friday practice driver.

The heavily Red Bull-backed youngster is sitting out India because the circuit is new, but will be back in action in Abu Dhabi and Brazil next month.

Frenchman Vergne, 21, said recently he expects to replace either Jaime Alguersuari or Sebastien Buemi in 2012.

Before that, he will drive Red Bull’s title-winning car throughout the Abu Dhabi young driver test.

In France this weekend, he now tells the weekly Le Nouvel Observateur: “I must concentrate on my work, not paying attention to what is being said.

“Anyway, I don’t know anything about next season yet. The decision will be taken after Brazil,” said Vergne. “There is still time.”

Sauber’s 2011 car will be unveiled at Valencia on January 31; the day before winter testing begins.

The Swiss team announced on Friday that the Ferrari-powered C30 will be launched at Valencia’s permanent Ricardo Tormo circuit, the scene of the first group test of the 2011 pre-season.

It is likely many teams will also be testing their new cars at the Spanish venue.

“The new car is on schedule,” a spokesman for the Faenza based Toro Rosso team told f1today.nl. “We are planning to have it for the first test in Valencia.”

And after Lotus said it will begin 2011 without KERS, it seems likely that Toro Rosso’s STR6 will be fitted with the energy recovery technology.

The Faenza based team’s Swiss driver Sebastien Buemi was in the simulator this week to prepare for 2011.

“There will be quite a few new tasks in the cockpit next year, with the re-introduction of KERS and the use of an adjustable rear wing,” he said.

“I am not going to tell you anything (more) about the STR6, let’s just say it definitely looks impressive!” added Buemi.

Red Bull insists it has no plans to sell Toro Rosso.

The energy drinks company is pushing for the 2010 title with its main team Red Bull Racing, while its second team is a midfield runner at best.

“It is and remains our rookie team,” Red Bull mogul and Austrian billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz told Der Spiegel newspaper.

“We run our best young talents with this formula one team,” he added.

According to Mark Jenkins, a business strategy professor at Cranfield University in the UK, Red Bull should drop Faenza based Toro Rosso.

“It doesn’t make any sense with the current regulations for Red Bull to own two teams,” he is quoted by Bloomberg.

But the report also said Red Bull has confirmed it has no “concrete” plans to sell Toro Rosso.

The media research monitor Margaux Matrix found that, with its four Red Bull-branded F1 cars, Red Bull has got almost 267 minutes of TV airtime so far in 2010, compared with 52 minutes for Ferrari.

Flavio Briatore twice blocked Heikki Kovalainen’s formula one race debut, according to a Finnish report.

The Turun Sanomat newspaper said the 29-year-old, who in 2010 is contesting his fourth season with a third separate team, could have made his debut in 2004.

Actually, Kovalainen debuted in 2007 with Renault, then run by his former manager Briatore.

But he tested with Minardi as far back as late 2003 and was almost signed for the following season by the Faenza based team’s boss Paul Stoddart.

At the same test was Jose Maria Lopez, Kovalainen recalls.

“I was clearly faster than him,” he said. “Paul Stoddart would have offered the seat to me, I was ready, but my management had a different view.”

According to the report, another opportunity for Kovalainen came ahead of the 2005 season, when he met with Williams’ Sir Frank Williams, Patrick Head and Sam Michael at Grove.

But Briatore reportedly called off the talks when he decided that Kovalainen should contest a season of GP2 before becoming Renault’s full-time test driver in 2006.

“Of course, each time when you have a chance to go into F1 and you don’t, you are disappointed,” Kovalainen confirmed.

He split with Briatore after last year’s crashgate scandal, and negotiated his own move from McLaren to Lotus for 2010.

Despite earlier expressing some reservations, Jaime Alguersuari is now sure he will be at the wheel of a Toro Rosso in 2011.

When boss Franz Tost initially said the Faenza based team’s current drivers would both be retained next year, both Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi seemed unconvinced that owner Red Bull was also fully in agreement with the news.

Then in Japan less than two weeks ago, Austrian Tost repeated his announcement that Toro Rosso’s driver lineup is not changing for 2011.

“I have great respect for Sebastien Buemi,” Alguersuari, 20, is quoted as saying by the Spanish news agency EFE.

“And the official and final confirmation of our continuing contracts in 2011, confirmed in Japan both for Buemi and myself, will make us stronger,” added the Spaniard.

Alguersuari insists he has developed at a great rate since debuting in Hungary last year with no experience at the wheel of a F1 car.

He said he has gone “from being the biggest rookie in history to feeling at 20 years old almost like a veteran”.

“I feel very happy with Toro Rosso, which is like a big family, and I’m very proud of myself,” added Alguersuari.

He also said Toro Rosso’s 2010 car is the “only one” among the existing teams not yet using an F-duct in races; a development he expects will add “half a second” to the STR5′s pace when it is finally ready.

The likelihood of Hyundai entering formula one in the near future has diminished.

Some years ago, the Korean carmaker – currently the fifth largest in the world and comprising Kia – was linked with Minardi when Paul Stoddart was selling the Faenza based team.

And “We are in discussions with Bernie Ecclestone,” an official of the Seoul-based company said in 2006.

Another Korean multinational, Samsung, has also been linked with F1 sponsorship, which now seems timely given the sport’s journey this week to the southwest Jeollanam-do province for the country’s inaugural grand prix.

South Korea’s economy proved robust in the wake of the global financial crisis, and Hyundai vice chairman Chung Eui-sun said recently that the marque’s “utmost priority is to boost brand image in Europe”.

The conglomerate LG is already a prominent F1 sponsor, but Hyundai is reportedly not interested.

“The grand prix could be a gateway to becoming a premium car brand, but Hyundai is simply not interested in formula one,” an anonymous F1 industry official told the Reuters news agency.

“It also requires long-term investment of several years at least and it’s doubtful whether Hyundai has that patience,” the source added.