Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsToro Rosso

Verstappen feels engine cost Toro Rosso podiums

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Max Verstappen says Toro Rosso would have had some podium finishes in 2015 with a more powerful power unit.

Toro Rosso produced an impressive chassis this season for its two rookie drivers, with Verstappen able to take advantage of chaotic races in Hungary and the United States to finish in fourth place. With the car powered by the Renault power unit which frustrated Red Bull, Verstappen says the chassis itself was good enough to challenge much further up.

"I think if we had a really good engine we would have been on the podium," Verstappen said. "Not all the time but sometimes when people were retiring, we have to be realistic because Mercedes and Ferrari would have been a bit in front but we could have definitely challenged Williams."

Toro Rosso will run a 2015 Ferrari power unit next season, and Verstappen says if it remains competitive there are many knock-on effects which improve performance.

"I hope we have a bit more horsepower then we can fight with Force India and the Lotus cars because if you see how much they gain on the straight in the races … In qualifying it is a bit less because you can use DRS and a bit more power there but in the race it’s very painful for us.

"If 50 horsepower more makes your life so much easier because you can control the guys behind you - definitely the Mercedes cars in front can control us and we have to push very hard in the corners to catch up all the time, you can lengthen your stint and everything gets easier."

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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.