2018 Scuderia Toro Rosso F1 Team - Honda

[JordanMugen]

Judging by the picture above, it was because he turned the engine up to 11

How about mode 12? Instant kaboom?

Regarding Hartley, maybe Hartley will drive the Red Bull Team Mugen car in Super Formula instead of Mr. Ticktum?

[Squid]

More noise from the Albon camp. Looks like he's free of his Nissan shackles at last.

[gshevlin]

Starting to look like Albon will be the second Toro Rosso driver in 2019. Brendon Hartley, if he wants to continue in single seaters, may have to go to Super Formula.

[McMika98]

Glad for Albon, but he is on a short leash with Ticktum in the wings. Hopefuly he performs well against Kvyat which will be tough. Cant wait for next season. Hopefully the car is a RedBull spec B which will help them.

[Morteza]

It's official
https://twitter.com/ToroRosso/status/10 ... 7182398466

[Big Tea]

Another son of a racer?

[NathanOlder]

So red bull hiring 2 drivers they previously threw in the bin. Vergne and Buemi for 2020 then.

[Ground Effect]

So red bull hiring 2 drivers they previously threw in the bin. Vergne and Buemi for 2020 then.

Yep, it's now an "old" driver's programme.

[gshevlin]

One interesting factoid pointed out earlier today is that Alexander Albon has never actually driven an F1 car.

[Squid]

So red bull hiring 2 drivers they previously threw in the bin. Vergne and Buemi for 2020 then.

One of them replacing another driver they previously threw in the bin.

[NathanOlder]

Seems they are very low on options these days. Desperate times. Max and Gasly are all Red Bull have for the next 3-5yrs, so Marko better look after them.

[Morteza]

[gibells]

The first Thai driver for a Thai drinks company. Hmm, could we see Krating Daeng branding any time soon?

[gshevlin]

In the meantime, Toro Rosso says nothing about the departure of Brendon Hartley, except for a belated single posting by the team's social media co-ordinator. In less than 48 hours he has been converted to a non-person.
Yet today Honda issues a fulsome thankyou note from Honda's top F1 leadership, thanking Brendon for his help.
I know a little bit about Japanese business culture. This note is a public rebuke to Toro Rosso and Red Bull.
Honda are not happy about Brendon being dropped, but the way in which he was publicly converted to a non-person is not lost on a lot of people. It's actually not hard to not behave like a dick. On this occasion, Toro Rosso behaved like dicks, and I think that Honda are politely calling them on it.

[gshevlin]

Also...there is a massive Tell in the middle of Brendon's public statement about his departure from Toro Rosso:
"I also want to thank my trainer Rich and almost all of the 500 strong Toro Rosso staff..."
A subtle but unmistakeable signal that Brendon was not feeling total support from within the team.