Franz Tost, boss of Scuderia Toro Rosso, has urged his two race drivers to start improving their performances so that the team can win some points this season.
Liuzzi and Speed have both failed to score points so far thanks to a combination of driver error, unreliability and accidents. Tost has admitted that the team are looking for new sponsors if the team were winning points, this search would probably be made a lot easier. There is speculation around the F1 paddock that Liuzzi and Speed may be on their way out if they continue on their form with triple Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais and BMW-Sauber s test driver Sebastien Vettel as possible replacements.
“They need to improve,†Tost remarked. “But so far it has been difficult for both of them to get the most out of the car, especially in qualifying. There is room for improvement in every aspect of our team but I believe that our group has potential and we can be successful.
“We are still suffering the effects of our late start, losing nine days of testing,†Tost continued, referring to a poor build-up to the 2007 seasons leaving them under-prepared for the first race of the season in Australia. “The car was not as competitive as we expected. We struggled to understand it at the beginning and to find the right set-up.
“The team is getting better all the time although we are still struggling with reliability. I hope we can get this under control from Budapest onwards we know what our problems are and we have to make some design changes which is why they cannot happen overnight. We also have to improve the performance of the car. Currently, we are clearly behind our expectations.
“In the first two races of the seasons we got three car finishes out of a possible four which means our team was up to the job in hand. In subsequent races we retired because of technical failures, driver errors or collisions with other drivers. But the team had to move up a step last winter and the job of ensuring it is operating at its maximum is still not complete.
“We still have a way to go to perform at a level that will allow us to be successful in Formula 1, but we have some very good ideas. I think that by the end of this seasons we will have made a step forward and by next year we will be much neared to our goals in terms of how the team operates.â€
When asked whether he felt his team was the poor relation of Red Bull, Tost exclaimed “Absolutely not! There is a positive commitment between ourselves and Red Bull Technology and we have a good relationship with Red Bull Racing.
