Toro Rosso appoints Ascanelli as Technical Director

Scuderia Toro Rosso is pleased to announce the appointment of Giorgio Ascanelli as the team's Technical Director. For the past five years, Giorgio has been working as Technical Director for Maserati Corse. Prior to that, Ascanelli established excellent F1 credentials, including a long spell as Race Engineer and Head of R & D for Ferrari, with brief stints at Benetton and McLaren.

The 48 year old Ascanelli also has one special link to Scuderia Toro Rosso, as he was Gerhard Berger's race engineer when the Austrian raced for the Prancing Horse.

This appointment means that Alex Hitzinger is now free to concentrate on his original role, heading up the Advanced Technologies Department for Red Bull Technology, having additionally deputised as Toro Rosso Technical Director for the past few months.