Scuderia Toro Rosso

Toro Rosso-Ferrari

Full name	Scuderia Toro Rosso
Base	Faenza, Italy
Team principal/s	Franz Tost
Technical director	Giorgio Ascanelli
2008 Formula One season
Race drivers	14. Sébastien Bourdais 15. Sebastian Vettel
Test drivers	37. Brendon Hartley
Chassis	Toro Rosso STR3
Engine	Ferrari 056
Tyres	Bridgestone
2009 Formula One season
Race drivers	11. Sébastien Bourdais 12. Sebastien Buemi
Test drivers	Brendon Hartley
Chassis	Toro Rosso STR4
Engine	Ferrari 056
Tyres	Bridgestone
Formula One World Championship Career
Debut	2006 Bahrain Grand Prix
Latest race	2008 Brazilian Grand Prix
Races competed	53
Constructors' Championships	0
Drivers' Championships	0
Race victories	1
Pole positions	1
Fastest laps	0
2008 position	6th (39 points)

Formula One portal

Scuderia Toro Rosso (Italian for Team Red Bull) is one of two Formula One teams owned by Austrian beverage company Red Bull (The other is Red Bull Racing). It made its racing debut in the 2006 Formula One season, after Paul Stoddart sold his remaining interest in the Minardi team at the end of 2005 to Red Bull's owner, Dietrich Mateschitz, who subsequently struck a 50/50 joint-ownership deal with former F1 driver, Gerhard Berger, before the start of the season. In late November 2008, Red Bull regained total ownership of Toro Rosso after buying back Berger's share of the team.^[1]

Scuderia Toro Rosso is the sister team of Red Bull Racing, with the aim of developing the skills of promising drivers for the senior team.

Vitantonio Liuzzi scored the team's first point in its first season at the 2006 United States Grand Prix. The team's first pole position and victory were scored by Sebastian Vettel at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix.

For the 2007 and 2008 seasons, Toro Rosso used Ferrari V8 engines, taking over the contract that their senior team broke from at the end of 2006. The team principal is Franz Tost, formerly of BMW's motor sport division. Its latest car, the STR3 is nearly identical to the Red Bull RB4, and both were designed by Adrian Newey.

The team's set 2008 driver lineup was Sebastian Vettel, third driver for BMW Sauber in 2006 before switching to a race seat at Toro Rosso midway through the 2007 season, and Sébastien Bourdais, the four-time winner of the Champcar World Series.

Minardi had competed in Formula One from 1985 to 2005. Despite having a large fan base, they had been one of the least competitive teams in the sport, due to a relatively restricted budget. Owner Paul Stoddart claimed to have had 41 approaches to buy the team, but preferred to sell it to someone who could 'take it further' than he could and who would maintain it in its traditional base in Italy.^[2] Included in the terms of the deal with Red Bull was the clause that the team must keep its headquarters in Faenza, Italy until at least the 2007 season.

Whilst Red Bull have abandoned the Minardi name in line with their own sponsorship and marketing plans, the use of the Italian language in the name is intended to hint at the team's Italian heritage. Red Bull changed the name of the team immediately after taking control of the team on 1 November 2005. It was initially reported as 'Squadra Toro Rosso' but then changed because 'squadra' in Italian depicts a 'squad' like a football team, to 'Scuderia Toro Rosso'. Many Minardi fans were upset by this move, and over 15,000 signed an online petition to keep the Minardi name