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Tost: ''Driver who listens to his girlfriend on the track has already lost''

14 July 2020 at 08:35
  • GPblog.com

Franz Tost can be described as the champion maker. Every year, the AlphaTauri team boss gets Helmut Marko's chosen talent thrown into his lap and has already managed to turn some into great champions.

The champion maker of Red Bull

Since the founding of AlphaTauri in 2006, when it was still under the name of Toro Rosso, Tost has led the team. The Austrian has to give talent that Marko puts forward the chance in Formula 1 and provide the right guidance. With Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz big names have already broken through at Tost.

''All drivers who are included in the Red Bull track must have above average talent, otherwise it is uninteresting to train them. Of course a young talent has that speed or not and by looking a lot at the young talents you can see this better and better'', says Tost to Speedweek.com.

''What separates the wheat from the chaff is what they do with feedback. We give drivers tips on how to go faster, for example by braking a little earlier somewhere so that you can get on the throttle sooner. The talented driver picks this up. I didn't have to tell Vettel, Verstappen or Ricciardo twice.''

Verstappen the ideal example

''Besides the track it is also important what a driver does. When you reach Formula 1, it has to be at the heart of your life. You have to be critical and constantly want to get more out of yourself. The driver who listens to his girlfriend on the track has already lost. Champions listen to the team'', says Tost, who especially likes Max.

''As far as that's concerned I like Verstappen the highest of all the drivers I've met. Thanks to his father he was able to achieve all those successes when he was young. Sebastien Buemi is the other driver. Works hard and is very disciplined, but at crucial moments the nerves break out'', the team boss concludes.