F1 | Toro Rosso for 2018: “Gasly and Hartley are very fast, they will be competitive”

Il 2018 it will be an important year for the Toro Rosso, certainly a year full of innovations and a lot of commitment. The end of last year brought many revolutions to the team: the march of Carlos Sainz towards the Renault, the farewell to Daniil Kvyat and welcome two new drivers, Brendon Hartley e Pierre Gasly. The team has a lot of confidence in them and knows that they can do well next season. Franz tost he thinks that at the end of 2017 the two have not yet given their 100% but that this year's championship will bring a lot of satisfaction.

“It was a difficult time for them to come into formula 1, because our car was not as competitive as at the beginning of the season, we brought new parts and improvements to each circuit, but it seems that our direct competitors did a better job than ours,” Franz Tost told the magazine RACER. The team principal also recalled the problems he had last season, especially with the Renault engines which caused quite a few difficulty: “We also suffered from reliability issues, and because of that they always had to start from the back of the grid and that didn't make things any easier for us. The other drivers have thousands of kilometers in their cars, they are used to it, they know the team and they know everything, so coming to compete with them as a rookie makes life quite complicated for rookies,” said the Toro Rosso boss.

Despite missing out on sixth place in the Constructors' World Championship in the last race, Tost said he was very satisfied with Hartley and Gasly and their part of the season, especially for their efforts and commitments: “I have to say that both riders are very fast. Pierre won the F2 and this year he fought for Super Formula in Japan, so I am very happy and confident to have him in the team,” he said. “Brendon was very successful with Porsche in winning the championship and also in the 24 Hours Le Mans. They are completely different cars in terms of driving but also of wheels, and it is not easy for a driver to jump from one car to another,” he continued speaking of his two standard bearers.

Then a focus on the season that is about to begin: “Brendon is doing an excellent job, he has improved his performances; it was important for both drivers to race in those end-of-season races because they are aware of what to expect next season,” said Tost. “In general, I have to say that I am more than happy with both drivers because I think they have great potential and if we, as a team, give them a good and competitive car, they will be there, I am convinced,” he concluded.