By Andrew Cutler
July 12 2012

Now that the 2012 F1 season is just shy of the half way mark, Scuderia Toro Rosso Team Principal Franz Tost is offering his opinion of how the squad from Faenza has fared thus far. The overall 'jist' of his comments is; Ricciardo and Vergne show promise, but the team has failed to capitalize on the opportunities that have presented themselves thus far.     

"So far, I must say that both [Ricciardo and Vergne] are highly skilled and both of them, so far, have shown good performance," Tost told the offical F1 website. "Daniel scored points in his first race for us in Melbourne, when he finished in P9 and Jean-Eric finished in Sepang in P8, which showed that there is a lot of potential. The progress that both are making is quite promising, so I have to say that so far we are satisfied.

"What I am expecting is that a highly-skilled driver shows at least one sparkle. Daniel did that for me in Bahrain, as it was a really fantastic performance (in qualifying), and Jean-Eric did it in Monaco. To be in P7 as a first timer in an F1 car at Monaco is quite remarkable!"

Be that as it may, STR has not finished in the points since Malaysia, and is nowhere near on pace to match their 2011 season points haul of 41. Barring a considerable turn-around in the team's fortunes, Tost's preseason hope that STR would be challenging for the 6th overall spot in the WCC looks to be unachieveable.

Nonetheless, Tost remains firmly behind STR's last minute decision to revamp it's driver line-up (a decision that still dominates the discussions on STR's Facebook page) and places the 'blame' on chances that he feels the team has let slip away. 

"We had possibilities, we had chances, but we didn't seize them," he confirmed, "For example, Daniel started from P6 in Bahrain and couldn't profit from it, and Jean-Eric was in P7 ten laps before the chequered flag in Monaco, but finished 12th [after a late switch to intermediate tyres - Ed.]. In Valencia, Daniel was in a promising position where he could have easily finished in the points before some contact cut short his ambitions, [and] last weekend [at Silverstone] was not exactly what we were looking for, as we definitely were better in the wet. But it didn't rain in the race and, on top of that, Jean-Eric had to cope with his penalty [from hitting Heikki Kovalainen in Valencia].

"So, no points again, but both cars finished the race and mileage is all that matters for rookies. We have definitely not taken a step backwards, but our competitors are working better. Maybe we have gained two- or three-tenths of a second, but the others have gained maybe four- or five-tenths. Maybe they found a better solution but maybe also the development speed has not been high enough on our side."

Tost also took pains to refute the claim - which has been leveled against him by more than one former STR pilot over the past seven years - that he is too 'severe' of a boss to his drivers.

 "Let me put it this way, a driver has a hard time with me if he is not focused and if he is not finding the right-hand pedal. It is as easy as that. We push very hard and we do our best, but you know, sometimes, young drivers come into F1 thinking that they've made it. And that's bullsh*t!

"To come into F1 means that you are willing to start working very hard. Everything that you've done before is kindergarten. Being in F1, you must live 365 days a year and 24 hours a day for F1. And if I feel that one of our drivers doesn't do this, then he runs into trouble. Then I give him trouble because either you are a professional or out you go. It is as simple as that!"