F1: Toro Rosso is go!

By James Disdale

13th March 2009

Formula One is fired up and ready to go! And now that Toro Rosso has revealed its challenger for the season ahead, the grid line-up for 2009 is finally complete.

The small Italian squad unveiled its new Ferrari-powered STR4 last week at the Catalunya circuit in Spain, before hitting the track for an intensive testing session. The newcomer takes its design cues from the RB5 machine of sister outfit Red Bull, and team bosses hope it can turn in some giant-killing performances. Initial impressions are good, with the new car finishing sixth in the unofficial times from Barcelona on the inaugural test day.

Both Sebastien Bourdais and Sebastien Buemi were in action behind the wheel, and afterwards they were cautiously optimistic. “The pace feels quite strong,” explained Bourdais. “We are giving our very abest and the car feels good. But the question is: is it good enough?” The squad certainly has a lot to live up to. Last year, Toro Rosso put in an excellent performance, the highlight of which was Sebastian Vettel’s stunning victory in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

This year, even team principal Franz Tost is unsure the outfit can maintain such strong form against the top manufacturer-backed squads when the season kicks off with 58 laps of the circuit in Melbourne, Australia, on 29 March. “All race teams should have the same targets: to win every race they enter,” Tost remarked. “But of course, this is not going to happen.

“And even matching our 2008 showing will be difficult, especially as the sport enters a new era,” he continued. “Therefore our target has to be to leave after every race on a Sunday night knowing we have done the best job we could.