Red Bull’s two formula one teams will work even more closely together from 2015.
Already in 2014, after Toro Rosso’s switch to Renault power, the Faenza team and Red Bull Racing have been working together to solve the French supplier’s problems with its troubled new V6 engine. Now, Speed Week reports that from 2015, Toro Rosso will use the same rear suspension layout as designed by reigning world champions Red Bull Racing. Correspondent Mathias Brunner said 2014 is in fact a transitionary phase to a closer collaboration between the two Red Bull teams. For instance, while Toro Rosso is already using the internals of Red Bull’s new eight-speed gearbox this year, the second team is still producing the casing.
But from 2015, Toro Rosso’s use of the entire Red Bull gearbox will allow both teams to have exactly the same suspension geometry as well. The Faenza based team, formerly Minardi, has also been ramping up its staff numbers in recent years. “Compared to 2008-2009 when we had about 135 people, now it is up to 325,” team boss Franz Tost told Spain’s El Confidencial. “We are growing and the process is not complete,” he explained. Tost also said Toro Rosso is refining its role as a F1 driver development team, having already produced Red Bull’s current duo, Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo.
Until recently, Toro Rosso has run a pair of young, unproven talents, but this year the impressive teen rookie Daniil Kvyat is alongside the much more experienced Jean-Eric Vergne. “The general philosophy will not change dramatically,” said Tost, “because bringing drivers from the Red Bull junior team into formula one was the reason Dietrich Mateschitz bought Minardi. “The question is whether you bring in one driver or two (at a time), because in the past we changed both, which is risky. “If we have a skilled and fast driver, it is easier when you bring in a young super-talent,” he added.
Image: Vikta
