Formula One news

Toro Rosso urges drivers to improve

Franz Tost has said that Toro Rosso drivers Vitantonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed must improve to ensure that the team is successful. The team principal claims that not only do the drivers need to raise their level of performance in qualifying but that they need to stop making mistakes during races, which prevent the Faenza-based team from picking up much needed points.

Six out of the team's 13 retirements this season have come as a result of driver error or collision with another driver. With Toro Rosso being the only team alongside Spyker to not score any points yet this season and with part-time tester and three-time defending Champ Car world champion Sebastian Bourdais hoping to sort out his future with the team by the end of the month, both Liuzzi and Speed are under some serious pressure to turn things around quickly.

When asked about the performance of his two drivers, Tost said: "They need to improve. So far it has been difficult for both of them to get the most out of the car, especially in qualifying."

Although Tost says that the former Minardi team members have adapted well to the new Red Bull umbrella set-up, the Faenza-based team has been held back by reliability issues and mistakes by the drivers.

He added: "Even in the first two races of the season we got three car finishes out of a possible four, which means that our team was up to the job in hand. In subsequent races, we retired because of technical failures, driver errors or collisions with other drivers. The team had to move up a step last winter and the job of ensuring the team is operating at its maximum is still not complete. We still have a way to go to perform at a level that will allow us to be successful in F1."

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