Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsToro Rosso

Tost sees podium as realistic target for Toro Rosso

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Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost says a podium this season would be a "realistic" target for the team.

Max Verstappen twice finished fourth in 2015 despite Toro Rosso running a Renault power unit which was widely considered to be off the pace of the Mercedes and Ferrari engines. In setting the team a target of fifth place in the constructors' championship, Tost says a podium should also be an additional aim to help achieve that result.

GALLERY: Toro Rosso STR11

"Realistically, I expect that we can achieve a podium this year after getting so close to it last year in Budapest and Austin, where Max finished fourth," Tost said.

"I hope that the new car works well and is reliable and that the team and drivers do a good job. Therefore a podium position should be possible. The target for us this year is to finish fifth in the Constructor's Championship."

While Tost admits the late switch to a 2015-spec Ferrari power unit impacted on car development he still expects Toro Rosso to make further progress this season.

"The late decision will inevitably have a small effect on car performance, because if you have more time for the design stage, then you can possibly come up with better solutions. I'm quite optimistic and I see the STR11 as another step forward. The STR10 was quite a competitive car last year and I think that we can continue improving."

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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.