Boss Franz Tost at Hockenheim fuelled rumours the team’s technical boss Giorgio Ascanelli has left Toro Rosso.
Italian Ascanelli, once the great Ayrton Senna’s race engineer and Faenza based Toro Rosso’s technical director since 2007, is not at the German grand prix this weekend.
“I can only tell you that Giorgio Ascanelli is on holiday and there’s confidentiality between the two parties. That’s all that I can say to this,” team principal Tost said on Friday.
The Austrian would not comment further, despite one reporter surmising that it is obviously not “sensible” for a technical director to be on holiday just over a week before the month-long August break. The reporter added that there is clearly “something going on”.
“Sorry. I’ve said everything,” insisted Tost.
Italy’s Autosprint reported that Ascanelli’s departure was a sudden decision in the wake of an argument with Tost at the recent British grand prix.
The report added that Ascanelli and Tost have “differences of opinion” regarding the management and technical direction of the Red Bull-owned team.
Source:GMM
