Toro Rosso’s 2015 driver lineup will be brand new. They have selected Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz, Jr. to drive the cars. Both of these drivers are new to the sport of Formula One. Toro Rosso is the prospect team for Red Bull Racing and should definitely be considered a backmarker team. Because they are a backmarker team, it isn’t out of the ordinary that they are signing young drivers, but they don’t usually choose drivers this young.
Upon the announcement that Max Verstappen would be joining Toro Rosso a only the age of seventeen, a vigorous debate broke out amongst fans of all ages. The general consensus is that Verstappen is too young to be in the sport. In fact, Verstappen will be making history as being the youngest Formula One driver to start a race, passing the previous record of nineteen and some change, set by Jaime Alguersuari in 2009. However, unlike his future teammate, Verstappen spent some time behind the wheel of a Formula One during some free practice sessions in 2014.
Although he hasn’t spent any time in a Formula One car, Sainz has five years of experience in various racing series and became the 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 Series championship winner. Verstappen has only spent one year in racing. The most experience that he has to his name is a third place championship rank in the 2014 FIA European Formula 3 Championship and winner of the 2014 Masters of Formula 3 race. This means that Sainz may be more knowledgeable about racing strategies.
The big issue with the Toro Rosso lineup is that they now have two rookies who have never raced in Formula One and they don’t have any driver to help the rookies learn the ropes. Typically, teams will sign a rookie or inexperienced driver alongside a driver with at least a year of experience racing in the sport. And in the case of Toro Rosso, they have a driver with only one year of racing experience who has now found his way to the big leagues. This lineup is a huge mistake for the team and will be an invaluable learning experience for both of the drivers. This mistake will reflect directly in the team’s performance for 2015.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer or company. Assumptions made in any analysis contained within this article are not reflective of the position of any entity other than the author.
