Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost believes the pairing of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz is one of the strongest in the history of the team.

Red Bull's junior team has been used to give experience to young drivers in F1, with Sebastian Vettel the most successful driver to be produced by the system. Toro Rosso opted for an all-new rookie line-up of Verstappen and Sainz in 2015, with Daniil Kvyat having moved up to Red Bull and Jean-Eric Vergne dropped.

With Verstappen capping the first half of the season with fourth place in Hungary and Sainz having scored on four occasions, Tost says he has been impressed with the approach from both drivers.

"Both of our drivers have done a fantastic job and that is partly because of their commitment to Formula 1," Tost said. "They have a really positive attitude and Formula 1 is their life, which is clear from the fact they are in constant contact with their engineers, they spend a lot of time working on their physical condition.

"They are always asking questions and they have a strong work ethic. Formula 1 is their passion and that's the best route to success. I would say they are one of the most competitive pairings we have seen at Toro Rosso. Their learning curve is very steep."

Click here to find out the budgets available to each F1 team during the 2015 season

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

Recent Posts

Schumacher beats the Professor's F1 record milestone

On this day in 2001, Michael Schumacher became the sole record holder of the greatest…

1 hour ago

Haas rejects 2027 switch as it fights to fix VF-26

Haas has no intention of waving the white flag on its troubled 2026 Formula 1…

3 hours ago

Red Bull confirms Lambiase successor and future head of racing

Red Bull has moved decisively to secure the man it believes can shape the next…

3 hours ago

McLaren unleashes new H-Wing as Monza hat-trick beckons

McLaren heads to Monza this week with momentum on its side and a fresh weapon…

5 hours ago

Gasly benched for Monza FP1 as Aron gets Alpine run

Paul Aron will get another chance to make his mark in Formula 1 this weekend,…

20 hours ago

Palmer warns Russell facing ‘make or break’ race at Monza

For George Russell, the upcoming Italian Grand Prix is not merely another race weekend; it…

21 hours ago