Toro Rosso STR1

Toro Rosso STR1
Category Formula One
Constructor Toro Rosso
Designer(s) Mark Smith (Red Bull RB1)
Gabriele Tredozi
Predecessor Minardi PS05
Successor STR2
Technical specifications[1]
Chassis Carbon-fibre monocoque
Suspension (front) Cast titanium uprights, pushrods, carbon-fibre upper and lower wishbones
Suspension (rear) As front
Engine Cosworth TJ2005-2 V10 (90°) Normally aspirated (limited to 16,700/17,000 rpm)
Transmission Red Bull seven-speed longitudinally-mounted with hydraulic shift and clutch operation
Weight 600 kg (1,300 lb) including driver
Fuel Castrol[2]
Tyres Michelin
Competition history
Notable entrants Scuderia Toro Rosso
Notable drivers 20. Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi
21. United States Scott Speed
Debut 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix
RacesWinsPolesF.Laps
18000

The Scuderia Toro Rosso STR1 was the car with which the Scuderia Toro Rosso team competed in the 2006 Formula One season. It was driven by Vitantonio Liuzzi, who had started four Grands Prix for the sister Red Bull Racing team in 2005, and Scott Speed, a débutant who was the first American driver to compete in F1 since Michael Andretti in 1993.

2006 marked a new beginning, as Red Bull had bought the Minardi team which had competed in F1 for twenty years and renamed it using the Italian translation of their brandname. The new team inherited Minardi's technical team and its factory at Faenza only, as ex-owner Paul Stoddart kept Minardi's other property in Ledbury. A deal which allowed the team to run restricted V10 engines, instead of V8s, was also maintained despite the new ownership.

This allowed Toro Rosso to use an almost identical version of the previous year's Red Bull RB1 coupled with the same Cosworth engines, only power-restricted under the FIA's equivalency formula. Both the chassis-sharing and V10 engine usage remained controversial topics throughout the season, as the engine agreement was designed to benefit the poor Minardi team, not the much richer Red Bull company. However, this wore off as the season progressed, as fears over the car's potential performance advantage proved to be unfounded.

This was largely due to the year-old chassis, the torque advantage of the V10 being cancelled out by traction control, and the lack of engine development and tyre testing given to the team. However, the team were generally more competitive than Midland/Spyker and Super Aguri, and Liuzzi was able to score the team's one and only point at Indianapolis.

Liuzzi was generally the quicker of the drivers, although Speed improved as he gained in experience. Despite both getting involved in several accidents and mistakes due to their inexperience, the STR duo both drew praise from part-team owner Gerhard Berger for their performances.[3]

The team eventually finished ninth in the Constructors' Championship, with one point.

David Coulthard driving the STR1 at Goodwood 2009

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Complete Formula One results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position)

Year Team Engine Tyres Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Points WCC
2006 Scuderia Toro Rosso Cosworth V10 M BAH MAL AUS SAN EUR ESP MON GBR CAN USA FRA GER HUN TUR ITA CHN JPN BRA 1 9th
Vitantonio Liuzzi 11 11 Ret 14 Ret 15 10 13 13 8 13 10 Ret Ret 14 10 14 13
Scott Speed 13 Ret 9 15 11 Ret 13 Ret 10 Ret 10 12 11 13 13 14 18 11

Drivers did not finish the Grand Prix, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Toro Rosso STR1.
  1. Henry, Alan (ed) (2006). AUTOCOURSE 2006-2007. Crash Media Group. pp. 82–83. ISBN 1-905334-15-X.
  2. "Scuderia Toro Rosso STR1 Cosworth Specifications.". F1Technical.net. 2006-07-31. Retrieved 2006-07-31.
  3. "Berger happy with 'rookies'.". Crash.net. 2006-05-31. Retrieved 2006-12-31.
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