2010 F1 Season Review Part 9- Toro Rosso | Thebigtip

The 2010 Formula One season was one of the most exciting to date, with a heady mixture of new teams, new regs and a four-way title battle to keep even the least enthusiastic petrol-head glued to their telly screen. In my extensive season review, I'll be taking you through each of the 12 teams' performances, who was hot and who most certainly was not and I'll be giving my raw and unsolicited opinion on whether each team deserved their final finishing place. Here are ninth-placed minnows Toro Rosso...

Drivers: Sebsatien Buemi / Jaime Alguersuari

Team principal: Franz Tost

Car spec: STR5

Engine: Ferrari

 
No more can Scuderia Toro Rosso be labelled a 'Red Bull B-Team', as 2010 marked the first season of the Faenza-based outfit using their own chassis rather than borrowing last season's hand-me-downs from their elder sister Red Bull. This, and the combination of young drivers Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari, helped them to ninth in the constructors' ahead of all three struggling new teams.

Team boss Franz Tost must have been kicking himself for this untimely FIA decision, as Red Bull gained in strength even more from 2009 and went on to win both F1 titles. It was by no means an epic season for the former Minardi squad, as neither driver was able to challenge for solid points every weekend, and their individual runs of form seemed to alternate rather than run concurrently.

Despite being a constructor in its own right now, Toro Rosso is still essentially a training ground for the main Red Bull team, having made a race winner out of new champion Sebastian Vettel back in 2008. They haven't been fortunate enough to field another Vettel through their ranks as yet; and although 2010's duo of drivers are worthy of their race seats through their adept performances in lower formulae, it's hard to envisage either of them powering to glory in the middle of a rainstorm.

It wasn't all doom and gloom for the Toro Rosso boys though. Impressive moments for Alguersuari in his first full F1 season included a battle with Michael Schumacher's Mercedes at Albert Park, grabbing some points for the first time at Sepang, and monstering to 11th on the grid in qualifying for Singapore's night race. Buemi's good fortune eventually came at the Canadian round where he briefly headed the field before finishing the day in a solid eighth. Up until then for the Swiss, it had been a case of crash, bang, wallop for a frustrating number of the early rounds. Both keep their seats for 2011, although the announcement wasn't made until after the official team listings had been circulated. It will be interesting to see if either of them can defy the odds and gift Toro Rosso a surprise podium.

With big sister Red Bull joining the elite club of 'World Title Winners', all eyes are on Toro Rosso to field the next up and coming stars through the ranks of motorsport's most prestigious class. A better finish than ninth will no doubt be aimed for, and Tost's squad will have to do all they can to keep Lotus, Virgin and Hispania firmly behind them. With 13 points to nearest rivals Sauber's 44, all stops will have to be pulled out in 2011 to avoid being beaten by such a drastic margin.

Buemi finished: 16th

Alguersuari finished: 19th

Bev's verdict: Should have done better than ninth, especially now Red Bull are up the front with all guns blazing. Shake the order up, get some new designers and pop a couple of really fast, really furious young drivers into the race seats. Toro Rosso's a team renowned for dropping drivers halfway through a season if they're simply not performing - aka Scott Speed and Sebastien Bourdais; remember them? - and these two cheeky chappies at the moment will find themselves going the same way if they don't produce something amazing this season.

Images courtesy of: http://commons.wikimedia.org