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2011 Scuderia Toro Rosso STR6 news, pictures, and information | ||
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Scuderia Toro Rosso launches in Valencia
Shortly after 9 o'clock this morning, in the pit lane at Valencia's Ricardo Tormo circuit, Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi pulled the wraps off the STR 6, the car wîth which Scuderia Toro Rosso will tackle the 2011 Formula 1 World Championship.While the livery featuring the famous red bull remains pretty much the same, underneath the paintwork, the STR6 is radically different to its predecessor.
This year's design is possibly less conservative than in 2010 and naturally takes into account the requirements set out in the technical regulation changes, such as the banning of double diffusers, blown rear wings and adjustable front wings, to be replaced wîth the arrival of adjustable rear wings and the return, after a one year break, of KERS.Source - Scuderia Toro Rosso
The Joy of Six
This will be the sixth year that Scuderia Toro Rosso competes in the Formula 1 World Championship, since the team was created wîth a view to finding two extra cockpits for the stars of the future coming through the ranks of the Red Bull Junior Driver Programme. Six years down the road, that is very much the team's raison d'etre, wîth Sebastien Buemi still among the youngest men on the grid, while his team-mate, Jaime Alguersuari only turns 21 a few days before the second Grand Prix of this season. Still on the school front, the team will be squeezing a third driver into the cockpit at most of the races, as Red Bull junior, Daniel Ricciardo will be taking on the role of 'Friday driver,' standing in for one of our drivers in turn for Free Practice 1. Why are we so keen on this teaching role? Maybe the words Sebastian Vettel, World Champion are explanation enough.On the commercial front, we can look forward to a second year of support from Money Service Group, while on the technical front, 2011 is the second year that
Scuderia Toro Rosso will have designed its car totally in-house, in Faenza and in our Bicester (ÚK) wind tunnel facility. This year's design is possibly less conservative than in 2010 and naturally takes into account the requirements set out in the technical regulation changes, such as the banning of double diffusers, blown rear wings and adjustable front wings, to be replaced wîth the arrival of adjustable rear wings and the return, after a one year break, of KERS. Toro Rosso did not use the Kinetic Energy Recovery System in 2009 and this year we hope to enjoy the advantage of using the one evolved by our engine supplier Ferrari, who made good use of the power boosting system two years ago. It will of course be linked to the very same specification 056 V8 engine as used by the other F1 entrant that calls itself a 'Scuderia,' albeit wîth a prancing horse in its livery, rather than a toro. So there are plenty of unknown factors going into 2011, including a new tyre supplier, Pirelli. So that's an Italian tyre supplier, a car designed and built in Italy, under the supervision of an Italian technical director, running an Italian engine wîth three drivers who can speak Italian. 'Non può che essere un buon segno, che ne dici,' as they say in Faenza.
Sebastien Buemi – Driver Car No. 18We have Father Christmas to thank for bringing us Sebastien. It was Christmas 1993
when his father couldn't think what to buy his lad as a present and got him a go-kart.
This was something of a no-brainer as Sebastien's grandfather once took part in the Le Mans 24 Hours and other events. As the karting grew in importance, it became very much a family event, wîth a whole tribe of people traipsing around Europe to support the youngster and his cousin Natacha, who also had the racing bug. Sebastien whizzed through the various karting classes, taking Swiss and European title, before moving up to single-seaters in 2004. In Formula BMW, he was soon spotted by Red Bull, who put him on the books, helping him to take the title before going on to be runner up in Formula 3 and the Asian GP2 series. In 2008, he won twice in GP2, including an amazing victory in tricky conditions from 21st on the grid at Magny-Cours.
Before Buemi arrived on the scene in 2009, only six Swiss drivers had ever scored
Grand Prix points, and Sebastien immediately added his name to that list, joining an elite group of drivers who scored points on their F1 debut. Just getting to Formula 1 is something of an achievement as motor racing is banned in Switzerland, presumably because the noise of the engines might drown out the sound of the cow bells or the cuckoo clocks.
This is your third full season in Formula 1. Does that make it particularly
significant for you?
I have big expectations to be honest, as I have quite a lot of experience now: I know all the circuits, I know how Formula 1 works and we also have quite a lot of experience in terms of building up the car. So, if all goes well and hopefully it will, we should be able to score many points and finish in the top eight of the Constructors' championship.What's the next step? What do you need to have a successful season?
I think it's a combination of many things. The first thing is that I have to give the maximum, getting the most out of myself and I need to have a good car, which isobvious as it is actually the same for all the drivers. The team is doing a good job to get everything working better than before and hopefully produce a quicker car. We switched the focus to the 2011 car pretty early in the season last year, so I have big hopes for the start of the season and how things will work out.
You're going to be very busy in the cockpit this year, wîth the adjustable rear
wing and the KERS. What's that going to be like?
This season wîth all the rule changes, it could be a bit difficult, especially in the early stages at the first few races. It is not yet really clear how we will use the rear wing and the KERS as we are still awaiting a rule clarification. It will take a bit of time to get used to it, but that will be the job of the drivers to be on top of it to the maximum by the start of the season. We will be trying to get up to speed during the winter tests to see what we can do and how we can improve it.
How do you prepare for 20 races?
 | Vital Stats |
| Engine : 8-cylinder | |
7-speed Automatic | |
How important is stability within the team?
Stability is a big point. When you get to a race weekend and you need to concentrate to get the maximum out of the whole crew, it is important to have stability, especially wîth my race engineer for example: I know him really well he knows me, so we can understand each other without talking. This is an important point because when you have to spend time working together in between the sessions you need to get to the point quickly and knowing one another really well can be an advantage.
Will it be a help that Jaime will be more experienced?
I think it's really important to have a team-mate that has experience because from a team point of view that makes a difference. We are only allowed to run one car per day during winter testing and if you can use all the days to get the car to go quicker and understand it better, then it makes a difference when you come to the first race. Me and Jaime do not have so much experience, but this is our third season and I'm pretty sure we can extract the most out of the car.
What about Pirelli tyres?
We had two test days in Abu Dhabi at the end of the last championship and it will be important to understand them quickly, because this might make a big difference when you get to the first race. We will learn how they work in cold conditions wîth all the testing in Europe, but as soon as we get to Bahrain the four days of testing will be very important in terms of understanding their behaviour in our qualifying and race simulations.
You're still the only Swiss on the grid – important to you?
To be the only Swiss driver is something I am proud of, especially as it is not easy being a Swiss in Formula 1 as we do not have any circuits in Switzerland and we cannot go racing at home, which makes it a bit more difficult to get to Formula 1. But I don't concentrate much on that: obviously we have a lot of support from the national media and I would say the Swiss people also love Formula 1.
What's the best thing about F1?
The best thing about Formula 1 is to drive the car, just to get in the car and go racing against all the other drivers. You race against the best drivers in the world, you race wîth the fastest cars in the world on the best and most beautiful circuits in the world, which makes everything fantastic. When you can feel the adrenalin at the start as you go and fight against the other guys and when you feel the speed at Monza for example, doing 350 kph at the end of the straight, or going round high speed corners or tackling Monaco, it's all just amazing.
The best thing about Scuderia Toro Rosso?
I think Scuderia Toro Rosso is a fantastic team. It is really good for young people because the team knows how to teach new drivers to get up to speed in Formula 1. It has huge potential and a bright future.Source - Scuderia Toro Rosso
Pirelli Tyre Test: Day One
This was a significant day for Formula One , as it was the first ever track test for all teams using tyres supplied by Pirelli, the Italian company which has a contract as the sole tyre supplier for the sport, for the next three seasons.Each team was supplied wîth four sets of tyres for today – two Prime, which corresponds to a medium compound tyre on the Pirelli listing and two Option or Soft compound tyres. Jaime Alguersuari was at the wheel of the STR5-03 and spent the morning evaluating how the car behaved on the new tyres, as well as working on set-up to suit them. In the afternoon, work began on evaluating tyre performance and behaviour over long and short runs.
'It was a useful experience for me to run on these new tyres,' said Jaime Alguersuari. 'We did a good mileage, some runs on heavy fuel and some wîth less and it was interesting to see how the tyres behaved. It is too early to say more than that, because of course there will be more development to come from Pirelli before the next season starts.'
'From the car side, we had a trouble free day,' said Chief Engineer, Laurent Mekies. 'Track conditions are now very different to those over the race weekend, partly because of the two days of running during the young driver test. The day went well and we are now preparing for the second day of running wîth Pirelli, when Sébastien Buemi will take over at the wheel.'
Pirelli Tyre Test: Day One
1. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:40.170s (94 laps)
2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:40.500s (77)
3. Gary Paffett McLaren 1:40.874s (94)
4. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1:40.950s (83)
5. Robert Kubica Renault 1:41.032s (39)
6. Rubens Barrichello Williams 1:41.425s (91)
7. Paul di Resta Force India 1:41.615s (20)
8. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:41.778s (81)
9.Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso 1:42.019s (71)
10. Adrian Sutil Force India 1:42.859s (20)
11. Timo Glock Virgin 1:44.124s (78)
12. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus 1:44.686s (88)
13. Pastor Maldonado Hispania 1:45.728s (83)Source - Scuderia Toro Rosso
| RED BULL IS FOURTH AND FIFTH AS ALONSO REIGNS IN SPAIN | |
 | Sebastian Vettel retained his lead in the fight for the Formula One Drivers' Championship with fourth place at the Spanish Grand Prix, while Mark Webber improved from seventh at the start to a well-deserved fifth place. After qualifying third, Seb made a great start to pass Lewis Hamilton for second place and set about chasing down pole winner and leader Nico Rosberg. However, in his first stop Sebastian lost his position to Alonso and dropped back. Alonso soon passed Rosberg for the lead and...[Read more...] |
| BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX PREVIEW | |
 | As we look to round four in Bahrain, the 2013 Formula One season is now fully underway with battle being waged between the five World Champions who also rounded out the top five at the Chinese Grand Prix, but it's Sebastian Vettel who leads the Drivers' standings by three points after finishing fourth. Teammate Mark Webber will be looking to replicate his early pace in China and his good form in Malaysia to score some all-important points at the upcoming Grand Prix. Vettel took victory in Bah...[Read more...] |
| MALAYSIAN GP – FELIPE FIGHTS BACK TO FIFTH, FERNANDO'S UNLUCKY 200TH | |
 | Felipe Massa fought back strongly after slipping down the order from his front row start position, to bring home valuable points for fifth place. Fernando Alonso's 200th Grand Prix is not one he will care to remember, as it lasted only just over a lap, before ending in the gravel. Sebastian Vettel headed home a Red Bull Racing one-two ahead of Mark Webber. Completing the podium was Lewis Hamilton for Mercedes. Inevitably here in Sepang, the rain appeared minutes before the cars were due to le...[Read more...] |
| Formula One: British Grand Prix | |
 | Lotus showed strong pace once again during the team's home race at Silverstone, but difficulties on Saturday ultimately kept them off the podium. While the sun came out on Sunday, Friday and Saturday's running was wet and slippery. During qualifying, Romain Grosjean set the fifth fastest Q2 time but then beached his Lotus E20 in the gravel, meaning he was unable to compete in Q3. He started the grand prix ninth, benefiting from Nico Hulkenberg's five place gearbox-change penalty. Kimi was abl...[Read more...] |
| Formula One - Spanish Grand Prix | |
 | Kimi Raikkonen bagged his second podium on the trot in Barcelona, charging hard to finish third behind first time grand prix winner Pastor Maldonado and, by just half a second, Fernando Alonso. The Finn was disappointed not to finish on the top step, though, claiming that the Lotus E20 had the potential to have won every race this year so far. Nevertheless, he is now fourth in the Drivers' Championship, just 12 points behind leaders Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso. Starting on the sec...[Read more...] |
Drivers:
Jaime Alguersuari
Sébastien Olivier BuemiTeam
Scuderia Toro Rosso2011 SeasonPoints: 41
Position: 8
Engine: Ferrari 056
2013 Entry: STR8
2012 Entry: STR7
2010 Entry: STR5
2009 Entry: STR4
2008 Entry: STR2
2008 Entry: STR3
2007 Entry: STR2
2006 Entry: STR1
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| Benetton | Brabham |
| BRM | Force India |
| Gurney | Hesketh |
| Jordan | March |
| Minardi | Penske |
| Red Bull | Sauber |
| Shadow | Surtees |
| Tyrrell | Williams |
| Scuderia Toro Rosso: 2011-2020 |
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2011 Formula One Season
