ScuderiaToro Rosso 2007

By Scuderia Toro Rosso
April 21 2007

Since March 12, 2006, Formula 1 fans have been able to get a taste of Red Bull in Italian: in Bahrain the Scuderia Toro Rosso team headed into its first season as the second team owned - at least in part - by the Red Bull company. Join us as we watch this squad stake out their spot in the world of F1.

The decision to take over the former Minardi team came at Spa during the Belgian Grand Prix, making the real birthday of the new Scuderia November 1, 2005. On that date the takeover became official and at the same time the first personnel decision was made: 49-year-old Austrian Franz Tost will spearhead the team.

Tost has lots of motorsport experience and Formula 1 know-how to contribute to the new team: he was formerly a driver for Formula Ford and Formula 3 and, among his other jobs, manager at the Walter Lechner Racing School before moving in 1993 to the team of Willi Weber. He was the driving force behind Ralf Schumacher’s career in Japan, advancing with his protégé to Formula 1. Since June 2000 Tost has been track operation manager at BMW Motorsport.

STR's General Manager is Gianfranco Fanuzzi. Fanuzzi has been in motorsports since 1976 when, at age eighteen, he jioned Ferrari as a race engineer. He would spend 22 years with Ferrari, working on both their F1 and IMSA efforts. In 1998 Gianfranco would make the move to Forenza and join Minardi, where he would stay until 2001. The next five years would be spent with the Toyota F1 team as their Logistics Manager. He is now back at Forenza, overseeing all of STR's non-production operations.

As of April 2007, the Technical Director for STR is Giorgio Ascanelli, who has formerly served as a race engineer for Ferrari, McLaren and Benetton and, most recently, was the technical Director for Maserati.

Early on in it's exsistance, STR was fortunate enough to draw the interest of former F1 driver Gerhard Berger, who has bought into the team as Co-owner. Berger brings with him the knowledge and experience of having raced in 210 GPs between 1984 and 1997, the third most of any driver ever. During that time he won ten races and finished third in the WDC standings twice, in 1988 and 1994. After retiring from the driver's seat, Gerhard joined BMW in 1998 as their Director of Motorsports, and was a key figure in their return to F1 as an engine supplier. He left BMW in 2003 in order to spend more time with his family, but found the chance to join STR too tempting to pass up.

In accordance with the regulations, the Scuderia Toro Rosso operates completely independently of Red Bull Racing. Although originally seen as a "rookie" team that will primarily provide opportunities for the up-and-coming talent from the Red Bull Junior Team to rise into the ranks of Formula 1, Scuderia Toro Rosso is commited to challenging the "senior" Red Bull team if the opportunity presents itself.