This weekend, Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport quoted Toro
Rosso chief Helmut Marko talking candidly about his team's decision
to drop both Buemi and Alguersuari for 2012, a decision which took
the paddock by surprise. The Austrian claims that management
"didn't see any possibility of growth" in the young pairing, and no
bountiful future at their sister team, Red Bull. Marko went on to
state that the Italian-based outfit is looking for "winners".
The perceived point of Toro Rosso's existence is a solid one.
The plan remains to develop young, top flight drivers and then hand
them over the Christian Horner, who'll make them winners. The
relationship between the two teams is naturally strong: until last
year, the men in Milton Keynes produced the bulk of Toro Rosso's
design blueprints. This arrangement has now been destroyed by the
governing body.
The current controversy surrounding the former Minardi team is
the decision to promote upcoming hotshots Jean-Eric Vergne and
Daniel Ricciardo at the expense of Buemi and Alguersuari, a solid
if unexciting line-up. Marko's quotes, coupled with previously
unreleased video footage of the authoritative Austrian giving young
Alguersuari a substantial talking to following his accidental
blocking of Red Bull star Sebastian Vettel in practice for the
Korean Grand Prix, have changed the way many people view the team.
It is easy to feel that Toro Rosso is no longer a racing team, but
Red Bull's onsite laboratory.
Yesterday evening we asked our Twitter followers the following
question:
"It's becoming clear that Toro Rosso has no desire to
win. It simply aims to contribute to Red Bull's success.
Fair?"
We, got a variety of responses. Some were steadfastly against
Marko's policy:
"No, it's not fair. That's what GP2 is for. If they
want to do that then they can move to GP2." -
@jacko2255
"If I were a young driver, I'd be more and more wary of
wanting to sign up to the Red Bull Junior Programme. It's the kiss
of death for F1 hopes." - @dancleggf1
But some spoke out in support of the company's two pronged
strategy, whilst others still had conspiracy theories:
"It's a fair assessment from Marko. We all know what
Vettel did at Toro Rosso at Fuji and Monza. We never saw that spark
from Alguersuari or Buemi." - @paulcraig27
"Maybe the main Red Bull team were embarrassed after
2008 and Vettel's win at Monza with Toro Rosso so they're making
sure that can't happen again." - @benlssattsports
Overall, the trend suggested that Formula One fans don't like
the way Toro Rosso operates, despite the fact that they've assumed
the mantle of Minardi in bringing new talent into the sport - the
only team to actively pursue such a policy. Okay, Alguersuari and
Buemi are out of the picture now, but they had more races than most
in which to make an impression and now it's time to move on.
The fact of the matter is that F1 is a competitive, fast moving
business. Buemi and Alguersuari had three and two and a half
seasons respectively to prove their worth. Given Red Bull's current
position at the pinnacle of the sport and Mark Webber's uncertain
future, they are quite within their rights to find a man who can
match the success of Sebastian Vettel. Indeed, the German is a
product of Marko's school, taking Toro Rosso's sole win at the 2008
Italian GP and being promoted thereafter, going on to claim back to
back world championships for Dietrich Mateschitz. The system has
worked in the past, and Toro Rosso's endless quest for the next big
thing - in an era of little testing and big money - surely
justifies its place on the grid. Just don't expect Vitantonio
Liuzzi, Scott Speed, Sebastian Bourdais, Jaime Alguersuari or
Sebastian Buemi to be so understanding.