The biggest story of Toro Rosso’s 2016 season was the driver switch between Daniil Kvyat and Max Verstappen.
The demotion back to the junior Red Bull team caused much uproar from Kvyat fans and it’s something the Russian has yet to bounce back from.
Something that seemed to have been missed in the whole debacle was how Carlos Sainz Jr had not even been considered for taking Kvyat’s Red Bull seat.
During the previous season he performed at the same standard of Verstappen, indeed the Spaniard was actually more consistent that the Dutchman. Therefore, it was curious as to why Sainz was not even considered for the step up.
Besides the team politics, Toro Rosso has had a very strong start to the season and currently sit sixth in the Constructor’s Championship. Sainz has led the charge and is only three points outside the top ten in the Driver’s Championship.
However, as manufacturers update their engine packages, Toro Rosso will start to slip back down the order as they wait until next year to return to Renault power.
It will be interesting to see if the talent of their driver lineup is enough to keep Toro Rosso in the Constructor’s fight and give them a budget boost at the end of the season or whether having 2015 Ferrari engines, that will not receive updates, has now exhausted any advantages they may have had.
