Mid-Season Review: Toro Rosso, in the Shadows and Sometimes in the Light
The little sister of Red Bull is experiencing a mixed transition season. The switch to the Honda engine has slowed the team's progress, which has to rely on isolated standout performances, all achieved by Pierre Gasly.
8th in the constructors’ championship: 28 pts
Between 2017 and /f1/actualite/22619-bilan-des-francais-gasly-etincelant-ocon-dans-les-points-grosjean-decu.html, the discrepancy in consistency is striking for Toro Rosso. The Honda unit bears part of the responsibility for this decline in results (4 retirements due to engine problems out of 8 retirements), but one must also consider the greater progress of other teams.
The small Italian team is now overtaken by Haas and McLaren, who were chasing it last season, while Renault had done so in the second half of last season. The gap is now apparent, but as we saw in Hungary, the STR13 is capable of competing with its direct rivals on winding tracks.
The lack of resources against the big teams is no longer offset by the innovations that the little bull introduced during the season and that were later found on other cars.
The drivers
For his first full season, Pierre Gasly demonstrated his speed and consistency at the wheel of the Toro Rosso. The Frenchman scores points for the team by making the most of situations that work to his advantage – 4th in Bahrain, 7th in Monaco, and 5th in Hungary, as long as the Japanese engine behaves itself. For his performance, the Rouen native receives praise from Helmut Marko, advisor within the Red Bull team and head of the driver program, and he is considered as a potential candidate to fill the gap left by Daniel Ricciardo in the main team.
Who is the driver of the day? @PierreGASLY! #BahrainGP #F1 #Fit4F1 #Pirelli pic.twitter.com/Oy0RvwUSYB— Pirelli France (@PirelliFR) April 8
On the other side of the garage, the approach is different. Brendon Hartley is less competitive than his French teammate but benefits from experience coming from Endurance racing, which attracted the Italian team. However, everything moves quickly in Formula 1 and results are demanded, something the New Zealander is struggling to achieve. With his 2 points in the bag, he is more remembered for his crash in Barcelona and his car being split in two once lifted by the crane.
Will @BrendonHartley‘s car be ready for qualifying after this big shunt in FP3?#SpanishGP 🇪🇸 #F1 pic.twitter.com/ZEGViMxJjS
— Formula 1 (@F1) 12 mai /f1/actualite/22619-bilan-des-francais-gasly-etincelant-ocon-dans-les-points-grosjean-decu.html
| Head to head… | Score | |
| 1 | In Qualifying | 8-4 for Gasly |
| 2 | In Race | 7-5 for Gasly * |
*: the statistic does not take into account cases of double abandonment
| Driver | Qualifications: number of top 10 | Qualifications: best place | Race: number of top 10 | Race: best place | Number of championship points | |
| 1 | Pierre Gasly | 3 | 4th (Bahrain) | 3 | 6th (Bahrain / Hungary) | 26 |
| 2 | Brendon Hartley | 1 | 8th (Hungary) | 2 | 10th (Azerbaijan / Germany) | 2 |
The rest of the season
It seems difficult for Toro Rosso to claim a better place in the constructors’ standings. They will even need to keep an eye behind them, with Sauber being 10 points away. The lack of consistency in results and the poor performance of the STR13 are penalizing the Faenza team. Let’s hope that the battle with the Swiss team does not take the same turn as the one with Renault last season.
The departure of the technical director of the team, James Key, (to join McLaren) further darkens Toro Rosso’s horizon, as he was an important factor in the team’s success in the midfield since 2012.
🇫🇷 P6 at the #HungarianGP, before the summer break… 🌞
…a great #MondayMotivation 😎💪 pic.twitter.com/KspKmGP239
— Toro Rosso (@ToroRosso) 30 July
