[Team] How autonomous is Toro Rosso, really?

[Mike Harte]

In an interview published on PitPass, Horner appears to be saying that a Toro Rosso simulator is situated in the Red Bull facility in Bracknell, and that it was whilst Verstappen and Kvyat were there together doing simulator work that the swap of team seats was announced to the two drivers.

This innocent response from Horner just made me wonder just how independent Toro Rosso really are, and just how much "assistance" is given by the main team?

See: http://www.pitpass.com/56085/Horner-...was-inevitable

[S griffin]

Well I guess it was a good time to get a car and all the time to get help from the start of the Toro Rosso instead of the year it was not allowed to have the same car. I love the way STR and the other RBR are the only one who have been a couple of teams in one

[chillibowl]

mixed feelings about this.

given that neither team will be sold a competitive engine (partially their fault and partially because the others are hesitant to supply such a well funded outfit) i can understand their motivation to pool their resources in other areas. and while their partnership has deeper roots, i feel the Ferrari/Haas partnership has sort of rewritten the logic about how much two entries can coordinate so im not surprised the RB level of coordination again runs deeper.

problem is what happens when two linked teams are found to be (or alleged to be) exploiting/bending the same rules/loopholes.

given the increasing level of technical partnerships among several teams, i suppose we shouldn't be surprised this has (allegedly) happened and probably should expect more examples of this to arise.

also Pirelli are pants lol!

[Mekola]

This is like when David Sears presented Den Blå Avis teams in F3000 from 1997 onwards... We all knew that it started as a Super Nova satellite team... Then DBA turned into iSport when both formations entered in GP2.

[P38 in workshop]

Originally Posted by Mekola

This is like when David Sears presented Den Blå Avis teams in F3000 from 1997 onwards... We all knew that it started as a Super Nova satellite team... Then DBA turned into iSport when both formations entered in GP2.

It worked for a while and the alumni got into competitive seats when they graduated.But where are they now?

As for Toro Rosso's independence,the events of the last week have displayed quite clearly how autonomous they really are.What competitive team would willingly divest itself of a talented asset,given any choice?