Toro Rosso looking to halt performance slip

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Toro Rosso technical director James Key says that the team must 'better compensate' for its weaknesses when the championship resumes at Spa at the end of the month.

The Faenza-based squad left Germany on Sunday thoroughly disappointed by its performance at Hockenheim, with neither Carlos Sainz or Daniil Kvyat reaching Q3 on Saturday, and neither driver scoring points in the race.

"We knew there were a couple of elements to Hockenheim that increasingly wouldn't suit us as well as other teams, primarily the long straight, as it is quite power dependent," said Key.

"Those [remaining] teams running 2016-specification engines have picked up rather well over the last few races, and that could be seen very clearly at a track like this one.

"We brought a new aero update to this race, which appeared to work OK.

"We hope to get more out of it in the upcoming races; over the weekend we were learning about it and its major elements seemed to do what they are meant to."

Toro Rosso will return to current-spec Renault engines next season but in the interim it is forced to make do with its year-old Ferrari power unit, seen as the main culprit of the team's relative weakness.

Toro Rosso's technical team is forced to seek gains in other areas to compensate for its power deficiency and declining performance level.

"We are going to sit down now before the break and carefully go through a plan of how we will go about tackling the last part of the season.

"We still have some car developments to come. We must make sure we address some of the issues we had in Hockenheim.

"And we also need to make a better job of compensating for some of the weaknesses on our car."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.