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Franz Tost demands Toro Rosso improve reliability levels in second half of 2014

Team boss full of praise for drivers Kvyat and Vergne

Daniil Kvyat's car bursts into flames
Image: Daniil Kvyat's car bursts into flames

Toro Rosso boss Franz Tost has identified reliability as the area his team have to improve upon during the second half of the 2014 campaign.

As F1 breaks up for its summer holidays, Toro Rosso can be found in seventh place in the Constructors’ Championship after garnering a total of 17 points from the opening nine races of the campaign.

While the team have occasionally impressed on raw pace, with Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniil Kvyat qualifying in the top-ten on eleven occasions, it’s the number of DNFs the team have suffered that is vexing Tost.

“We are not where we should be in terms of reliability as we had eight non-finishes out of the first eighteen car starts, or nine races,” the Toro Rosso Team Principal told their website. “That is not good enough and it is something we must work on. In mitigation, some of this lack of reliability stems from the fact that serious pre-season problems with the power unit meant we were unable to complete many miles in winter testing.

“Effectively, we have encountered problems in races that normally would have been resolved before then. In addition, the team has not been perfect, making mistakes that led to faults like suspension failure. The solution is straightforward, we simply need to be more disciplined in order to avoid making further mistakes in the second half of the year. We need to sort out our reliability issues as soon as possible, so that we can finish in the points in the remaining races.”

The new man at Toro Rosso chats with the old one
Image: The new man at Toro Rosso chats with the old one

Rookie driver Kvyat, considered a controversial replacement for the Red Bull-bound Daniel Ricciardo at the time of his appointment, has been one of the surprise success stories of the season and Tost is understandably full of praise for the Russian youngster.

“He is doing a very good job, taking into consideration how little mileage he was able to do before the season, he is driving very well, showing that he has natural speed. Equally importantly, he has had no accidents, nor has he made any mistakes. He is doing a fantastic job,” he said.

Jean-Eric Vergne examines his car after stopping on track
Image: Jean-Eric Vergne examines his car after stopping on track

Team-mate Vergne also excelled in last week’s Hungarian GP, running as high as second before crossing the line in ninth to take his points tally for the year into double figures.

“He has suffered a lot with reliability issues, but when his car was running fine, he delivered good performances,” added Tost. “Thanks to his experience he makes an important contribution to the team's technical development and I'm convinced that there is still more to come from him."

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