2. Young team, young drivers
One aspect of Toro Rosso that is constantly changing is the driver line-up: this is not a team with a Drivers’ Pension Plan as it tends to run to a maximum of 3 strikes and you’re out. Never has this policy been clearer to see than this year, with the youngest ever driver pairing in the history of Formula One in the shape of Carlos Sainz Jr and Max Verstappen. Key isn’t fazed by that, quite the contrary in fact…
“It’s always a good thing to bring new talent into any sport and the Red Bull Young Driver programme has got a history of pretty good success when you look at some of the really good drivers in Formula One now. Both drivers currently in Red Bull have come via that programme and via Toro Rosso in fact, so I think in that respect, it’s a good thing for the sport. It’s certainly a very good thing for the Red Bull programme and shows there is strength in depth with a pool of talent and that’s a very positive thing for Toro Rosso and Red Bull Racing.”
When it was announced that Verstappen had got the drive, the Dutchman was still only 16 and several voices were critical of the decision, but Key believes old criteria for selecting drivers need to be reassessed.
We’re seeing a new generation who’ve got a slightly different skill set
“This is an opportunity to find the next generation and drivers now are certainly different to the drivers coming to the sport say 15 years ago. The current breed have had a different upbringing, starting racing at a very early age, so we’re seeing a new generation who’ve got a slightly different skill set and a different take on things. They are more orientated towards the technologies involved. It is a part of their lives so we’re seeing a new breed of guy coming through. We saw it with Dani Kyvat last year, when it was extremely satisfying to bring a guy through the system and see him succeed. I think there’s lots of positives in that respect and at Toro Rosso, we are well versed in this process and will do the same again with our new pairing.”
Verstappen and Sainz Jr might have managed to get plenty of F1 miles under their belt in winter testing, but nothing can prepare them for sitting in the pack as the lights go out to signal the start of the Australian Grand Prix and the two rookies come into the sport in the first full season of “coaching,” (basically the engineers telling the drivers what to do) being banned. However, even in this respect, Key sees positives.
“The drivers who have been around for a while were used to more freedom before, so they’re used to having a feed of information which helps them tune their driving, whereas if you start off by not having that feed of information but finding other ways to teach them what to look out for, it’s probably a little bit easier to start off in that way. It’s the same with all the buttons and controls you have for the power units. The old cars simply weren’t complicated. With the V8s, it was pretty straightforward. Before KERS, you just pressed the throttle. Now you’ve got a whole array of stuff. So if you’re coming into that for the first time, that becomes normal for you in a Formula 1 car, whereas the existing driver have maybe had to adapt a lot more.”
Nevertheless, you can’t just rely on the drivers to work it all out for themselves and as PJ O’Rourke wrote “age and guile can beat youth, innocence and a bad haircut!”
“Our job in winter testing has been to prepare the team and the drivers as best possible for the start of the season,” concedes Key. “The big emphasis at the moment is simply on doing laps and getting an understanding of the way the car is responding to things, also working on tyre management, pit stops, all this sort of stuff that you’ve got to be well versed in, so that when we hit Melbourne, we are as prepared as we possibly can be. We want to try and get in a position where as much as possible is not new. We’ve been through the process of how you do a formation to the grid and all this sort of thing.
“It takes a bit of time at winter testing and other teams have an advantage in that their drivers are used to that and they’re just cracking on with other stuff. Of course there’s always going to be a learning process - that’s inevitable. If you’re racing against guys that have been in F1 for years, they’re naturally going to have that much more experience. Although, if you look back at drivers from our recent past, they’ve adapted quickly and I’m sure that will be the case with our current two. We certainly intend to do well from the outset, not to build up to anything. These days, you can’t afford to consider the races at the beginning of the season as part of a training course.”
Based on the team’s showing so far, you’d have to say 2015 could be Scuderia Toro Rosso’s best chance to finally break out of the ranks of also-rans. Mind you, if rumours of Renault looking to cross Dietrich Mateschitz’s palm with silver, to buy the team and rebrand it with the lozenge logo replacing the bull, it could be a last chance as well as the best chance.
