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Toro Rosso pair show 'sparkle' - Tost

ESPN Staff
July 12, 2012 « De Villota's recovery 'remarkable' | Haryanto hopes for more running »
Franz Tost says that both drivers "so far, have shown good performance" © Sutton Images
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Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost says that both Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne have shown a "sparkle" at some point this season.

The team has had a tough start to the season, with the drivers' lack of experience in developing a car being shown up in such a competitive year to leave Toro Rosso with only six points so far. However, with Red Bull looking for a future world champion to emerge at its sister team, Tost said he had seen the indications that both drivers have great potential.

"What I am expecting is that a highly-skilled driver shows at least one sparkle," Tost told the official Formula One website. "Daniel did that for me in Bahrain as it was a really fantastic performance and Jean-Eric did it in Monaco. To be in P7 as a first timer in a Formula One car at Monaco is quite remarkable!"

Although all of the team's points came in the first two races, Tost said that the drivers have been delivering the performances he was expecting.

"So far I must say that both of them are highly skilled and both of them, so far, have shown good performance. Daniel scored points in his first race for us in Melbourne, when he finished in P9 and Jean-Eric finished in Sepang in P8, which showed that there is a lot of potential. The progress that both are making is quite promising, so I have to say that so far we are satisfied."

Tost added that he expected both Ricciardo and Vergne to get stronger as the season goes on, but that the team would then need to improve the car's performance to match.

"Both now have a bit more experience, they know the team better, the car better and the weekend procedure, so now I think it is up to us, the team, to provide them with a good car and make a step forward with new upgrades. Then I am convinced that we - hopefully - will have a successful second half of the season."

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