Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsToro Rosso

Horner praise for 'exciting' Toro Rosso pair

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says the emergence of the new Toro Rosso drivers have been one of the highlights of 2015.

Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz were handed their F1 debuts by Toro Rosso this year, with Verstappen starting his first race at the age of 17. The two Red Bull young drivers have delivered impressive rookie seasons, with Verstappen finishing 12th in the drivers' standings with 49 points and Sainz scoring 18 points after numerous reliability issues.

Asked how he feels Toro Rosso has performed on a smaller budget to Red Bull, Horner replied: "I think they have done a great job.

"They have had a good little car this year. They have got two exciting young drivers. For me the Toro Rosso drivers have been one of the highlights of this year."

With the FIA stewards moving to close off a loophole which was being exploited by Ferrari and Haas over the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend, Horner says the decision has no impact on Red Bull's relationship with its junior team.

"Nothing that affects how we have operated with them to date - obviously Toro Rosso has its own wind tunnel, they have their own aero department; they are a completely separate operation. The only components that we actually share are within the gearbox. It won’t change anything in the immediate future regarding the relationship between Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso."

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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.