“Not everyone was convinced,” Franz Tost confesses that Sebastian Vettel had his doubters before his move to Toro Rosso
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Franz Tost, AlphaTauri’s team principal, opens up the political cards over the move of Sebastian Vettel to Toro Rosso. Current AlphaTauri was called Toro Rosso back before 2019. Sebastian Vettel started his full-time racing career with the Toro wheels on his hand. Tost openly speaks about the difficulties that came for the young talent to be a part of his team but everything went superbly well after.
Sebastian Vettel started his career as a replacement for Robert Kubica for BMW Sauber back in 2007 at the United States Grand Prix. He did an unbelievable job to get his first points in his very first race finishing 8th and was the youngest driver to do so. Sebastian was later released by BMW to join the Red Bull Junior team for the last seven races of 2007 and beyond. This move completely changed Vettel’s career making him one of the most successful drivers in the history of Formula 1.
Franz Tost speaks about the political drama that took place for the young driver before he joined Toro Rosso. Tost speaks about half of the BMW team not wanting to keep Sebastian but Mario Theissen ( BMW Sauber principal) wanting to keep Vettel. Ultimately the move took place and Sebastian joined Toro Rosso in 2008.
“There were many discussions about him beforehand. Not everyone was convinced by him. Sebastian got involved in the political games there. BMW and Mario Theissen, [ex-BMW Sauber principal and BMW Motorsport Director], wanted to keep him, others, Sauber people, did not. That rubbed off on our discussions, ” said Franz Tost.
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Franz Tost praised Sebastian Vettel for his ability to “discover a certain technique”
Tost didn’t hold back his appreciation for Sebastian Vettel after the young German gave Toro Rosso their first victory. Sebastian won his and Toro’s first race in Monza 2008. Tost was overwhelmed with his decision to make way for Vettel.
“I really wanted him, he was a super talent for me and at the beginning, I had a similar impression of him as I had of Michael Schumacher. Thank God Dietrich Mateschitz [Red Bull co-owner] decided in his favour,” said Tost.
He continued with all praises for the German driver and also appreciated his abilities. “One of his great strengths: as soon as he discovered a certain technique on the car, he meticulously turned it to his advantage,” said Tost.
Sebastian Vettel is now finally retiring after completing an amazing career with four tiles and 53 wins as well as many unbelievable memories. But the first win is always the first win and Toro Rosso was lucky enough to have it with Sebastian being the wheels.
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Soham Raj Jain
(480 Articles Published)