Exclusive: Outgoing Tost looks back proudly on 'Newey car'

Franz Tost belongs in the list of successful team bosses, mainlybecause of his contribution to the development of some of Formula1's memorable drivers. During his 18-year tenure at ToroRosso/AlphaTauri, the Austrian had Sebastian Vettel, DanielRicciardo, and Max Verstappen under his wing and would help them ontheir way to becoming World Champions. The 2023 season was the lastfor the 67 year-old, as he looks to settle into retirement awayfrom the busy F1 schedule. In an exclusive interview withRacingNews365 , Tost recalls some of the great years he had at theRed Bull sister team. It begins with 2008, the year in which Vetteltook a surprise victory at the rain-soaked Italian Grand Prix. Tostis proud but, as always, also remains critical. "In 2008 we won atMonza and on the one hand that was a great success for the team,"says Tost. "On the other hand - every medal has two sides - itcaused a lot of problems, because the teams and the FIA decided tochange the regulations. "We had nowhere near the infrastructure todesign our own car. The car we won with at Monza was an 'AdrianNewey car' The only difference was that we had a Ferrari engine andRed Bull had a Renault engine." "Had two old buildings to produce acar." The regulation change would have a major impact on Toro Rossoand how the whole operation ran according to Tost. "Before 2009 wehad two old buildings to produce a car and had to set up anaerodynamics department, purchasing department, productiondepartment and quality control department. That took a lot of timeand effort, and it was obviously a challenging period," he recalls.The investment would pay off as Toro Rosso became a stable factorin F1, although it would take over 10 years before they would winanother race. This time it was with Pierre Gasly, who had beenrejected by Red Bull and was on a redemption mission. "That was thenext highlight. At that time we got a contract with Honda and thatwas very exciting. I can remember the people from McLaren weresmiling and saying to me, 'You must be totally crazy, what do youwant with Honda?' I said, 'Right, you are nowhere with Honda, butlet's talk about it again in five years.' In the end it didn't eventake me five years, because it was clear earlier." During thisperiod power unit makers could still bring updates to theirengines, and after their tough (and sometimes embarrassing) spellwith McLaren, Tost had a simple request for the Japanesemanufacturer. "2018 was a tough season because I requested fromHonda to bring an update every race, to develop the engine a veryhigh speed. They did, even though we had to start almost every raceat the back [due to grid penalties]." "But it was worth doing it,because Red Bull signed a contract with Honda for 2019 and the restof the story is well known. In 2019, for example, Danill Kvyatfinished third in Hockenheim and Gasly second in São Paulo bybeating Hamilton by a few meters to the line." "2020 was a newmilestone for the team. We were given a new name: ScuderiaAlphaTauri, a fashion brand founded by Dietrich Mateschitz. Hewanted to promote the brand that way and it was a very successfulyear with Gasly's win at Monza, as was 2021."