Toro Rosso STR6 – Following the flock

Paradoxically STR6 was the only 2011 car to lack any vanes under the nose , a thing that was about to change in Malaysia as Toro Rosso sported similar vanes to Red Bull RB7 . The vanes help to guide airflow more efficiently under the nose box . However Force India and Mc Laren do follow a different approach with the nose snowplough

Toro Rosso STR6 – Diffuser update before Melbourne

  Barcelona test on March, used in Melbourne

          Another update that took place for STR6 before Melbourne can be found on the rear ,  located on the diffuser area  . The main diffuser’s structure remains though unchanged  but with the addition of  two more vertical fences close to the centre tunnel focusing on extracting more efficiently air flowing under the floor and close to the plank ( skid block ) . A major change took also above the diffuser with the tab flap to be totally new and being consisted of a single element rather than two . Between the tab and the diffuser roof there is a significant gap , larger than the previous design and extending up to the venturi channels to increase air bleeding through favoring further drag cut . The tab finally features pointed extensions close to the wheels , a feature shown by Mc Laren in the past , to cut turbulence  in this crucial area .

Launch spec

       Last year teams were trying to divert more air through the diffuser channels to boost downforce , while this season facing the ban of the multiple deck diffuser, teams follow a different route by accelerating airflow above the diffuser roof leading to more complicated (Williams) and even slotted tab flap designs ( Red Bull , Toro Rosso , Lotus Renault ).

       Some of the methods being used to accelerate airflow over the diffuser roof  is the twin floor shown by Toro Rosso , the special hot air exiting by Lotus Renault , Williams and Red Bull , the ultra slim sidepods and gearbox by Red Bull and finally the special exhaust blowing by Mercedes GP, Ferrari, Mc Laren , Force India, Williams , Lotus , Marussia Virgin and HRT

Toro Rosso STR6 – Updated panels before season starts

    Toro Rosso shown great potential during winter testing , a momentum the team wanted to retain and very soon launched several updates on the STR6 . One of the updates presented in Jerez was a revised sidepod panel .The new one has a large cut on the top end to let more air bleed between the panel and sidepod surface , aiming reduction in drag .

Toro Rosso – 2011 MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX – SUNDAY 10/04/11

Sebastien Buemi
(STR6-02)
Pos. 13th
“I made a good start, passing Rosberg and was running well, closing up on Kobayashi and Schumacher, but at my first pit stop, I had the impression that the Pit Lane Speed Limiter had not been engaged. I immediately pressed it again, which deactivated it, so I speeded in the pit lane and picked up a ten second stop-go penalty, which I felt was a bit severe, as usually you get a drive-through penalty which loses you less time. After that I gave it my best shot but it was not enough to get a reward for the work, as I felt we could have got the Force Indias and at least finished ninth. I only changed tyres twice and it’s true that the last few laps were very difficult because of the degradation.”

 

Jaime Alguersuari
(STR6-03)
Pos. 14th
“I need to analyse this race with the engineers, because to be honest, I don’t really understand what happened: we were slow and the tyre degradation was very high, higher than on Friday. I struggled to clean the graining off the front tyres and was losing performance with every passing lap. On the positive side, I made a good start, gaining a few places. But soon I found I could not keep up with the guys in front. Given the difficulties I had, I feel that finishing the race was in itself an achievement and the best I could do today.”

 

Franz Tost
“Both drivers made a reasonably good start, with Alguersuari completing the opening lap in eleventh place, one ahead of Buemi. On lap 8, Sebastien passed Jaime, showing a very good pace at this stage of the race, closing up on those ahead of him. We called him in for his first pit stop, but the Pit Lane Speed Limiter was deactivated and because of this, he exceeded the limit and was given a ten second stop-go penalty. From then on Seb’s race was compromised and if it had not been for that, he could have been in the fight for ninth place. As for Jaime, he struggled with rear tyre degradation and I think it would have helped if we had put him on a three stop strategy, instead of two. Fortunately, our closest competitors in the championship did not pick up that many points today, so we are still in reasonable shape in the Constructors’ classification. However, the mid-field is very close at the moment, which means we have to do a better job, starting in Shanghai in a few days time.”

 

 

 

credit : Scuderia Toro Rosso

Toro Rosso STR6 – Diffuser

 

 

An interesting diffuser concept with complex central zone for STR6 but in fact not  new for Formula 1 in general  . Toyota , Williams and Sauber in the past raced similar multiple central channels to increase effective diffuser volume and also change the way airflow exits  from the centre and the way it mixes with the air coming over the diffuser to cut drag  . As for the diffuser’s roof tab , is divided into two sections , one outer and one inner slotted to let air pass through ( in blue arrows ) decreasing drag further .

Apart from the centre zone the side tunnels have several vertical fences of different length to help extract air under the floor more efficiently preventing flow detachment creating less turbulence . Diffuser is possible to undergo changes , changes that would be probably triggered by the way exhausts blow the hot emissions to the rear .

 

 

Toro Rosso STR6 – BARCELONA TEST – DAY 4

BARCELONA TEST – DAY 4    , 21 February 2011
Circuit: Circuit de Catalunya – 4,655 kms
Driver: Sebastien Buemi
Chassis: STR6 – 02
Best time: 1:23.550, 90 laps

The third pre-season test session finished today at the Catalunya circuit, with Sebastien Buemi bringing the fourth day to an end with ninety laps and the third fastest time to his name. His programme was similar to the one followed with Jaime Alguersuari, with a mix of short and long runs today, using all the types of Pirelli tyre with the exception of the Medium. In addition, the Swiss driver also worked on car set-up work and brakes.

Giorgio Ascanelli: “This has definitely been a productive four days for us with a good number of laps completed. We addressed all the technical issues that came to our attention at the previous test in Jerez, although as you move forward and make progress, you always discover new problems. But 90 trouble-free laps today means that this is a positive end to our time in Barcelona.”

Sebastien Buemi: “Today went well and I am happy with what we achieved. We gotthrough the entire programme we had planned and did enough laps to improve our understanding of the various types of Pirelli tyre. Along with the two other drivers, we gathered a lot of data over the past four days here in Barcelona and it will be important to analyse everything very carefully to find the right way to move forward in terms of reliability and performance, when we tackle the final pre-season test session. The team, at the track and back at the factory worked well to deliver a car reliable enough to do plenty of laps, which is always the most important thing at this point in the year.”

 

 

credit : Scuderia Toro Rosso

Toro Rosso STR6 – BARCELONA TEST – DAY 3

BARCELONA TEST – DAY 3 20 February 2011
Circuit: Circuit de Catalunya – 4.655 kms
Driver: Daniel Ricciardo
Chassis: STR6 – 02
Best time: 1:28.329, 42 laps (morning session)
Driver: Sebastien Buemi
Chassis: STR6 – 02
Best time: 1:26.155, 31 laps (afternoon session)

The third day of the third test session of the pre-season saw Scuderia Toro Rosso run two of its drivers: in the morning, it was Daniel Ricciardo who is our reserve driver, running during Free Practice 1 at the majority of Grands Prix this season and, after the lunch break, his place in the cockpit was taken by Sebastien Buemi. The Australian began the day on Extreme Pirelli rain tyres, switching first to intermediates and then to slicks when the track dried out from the rain that fell last night and briefly, this morning. This provided interesting data in terms of overlapping tyre performance as the track surface conditions changed. In the afternoon, Swiss Seb concentrated on set-up work running two sets of slicks. He continues driving for all of tomorrow, the final day of the Barcelona test.

Daniel Ricciardo: “It was an interesting morning in changing conditions, especially as I was one of the first to switch to slick tyres as the track dried this morning. I was pleased to be able to test a few different compounds so the day was more productive than we expected, especially in terms of learning more about the crossover point from wet to intermediate to dry tyres. Now, I am not due to drive at any further test sessions, so my next time in the car should be during Free Practice 1 at the first Grand Prix.”

Sebastien Buemi: “Even if I did not do so many laps this afternoon, I think the work we did was productive and it means we have plenty of sets to run with tomorrow, to increase our understanding of the different tyre types. We also evaluated some elements aimed at increasing downforce, which was interesting and now I just hope it is dry all day tomorrow, so we can get plenty of laps completed.”

 

 

credit : Scuderia Toro Rosso

Toro Rosso STR6 – BARCELONA TEST – DAY 2

BARCELONA TEST – DAY 2 ,  19 February 2011
Circuit: Circuit de Catalunya – 4.655 kms
Driver: Jaime Alguersuari
Chassis: STR6 – 02
Best time: 1:23.519, 97 laps

Jaime Alguersuari completed his second and final day of testing here at the Catalunya circuit near Barcelona, during which he did a respectable number of laps on a day that featured fewer red flags than yesterday. The Catalan driver had a busy programme, all of which was completed by the time the flag fell at 5 o’clock. It included a continuation of yesterday’s brake system evaluation and an assessment of different set-up configurations to suit various conditions and fuel loads. Jaime also tried three of the four Pirelli compounds – Hard, Soft and Supersoft – again working on car set-up to suit each one. Tomorrow morning, our reserve driver, Daniel Ricciardo will have his second outing in the STR6, following on from his half day in Jerez, before Sebastien Buemi takes over for the afternoon and Monday.

 

 

credit : Scuderia Toro Rosso

Toro Rosso STR6 – BARCELONA TEST – DAY 1

BARCELONA TEST – DAY 1 ,   18 February 2011
Circuit: Circuit de Catalunya – 4.655 kms
Driver: Jaime Alguersuari
Chassis: STR6 – 02
Best time: 1:25.638, 57 laps

The third of four pre-season test sessions got underway in the same conditions that brought the previous one to an end: last week, rain arrived for the final minutes at Jerez de la Frontera and a wet track from overnight rain, was the main feature up until around eleven this morning at the Catalunya circuit. The opportunity was not wasted and our local boy, Jaime Alguersuari, immediately put in a good 20 lap run on Pirelli’s intermediate tyre, gathering useful data for ourselves and the sport’s new tyre supplier. Once the track dried, the slicks came out and two runs were completed before the lunch-break which is compulsory at this track. The afternoon’s work included a brake system evaluation. The Catalan driver continues at the wheel for tomorrow’s test.

 

 

credit : Scuderia Toro Rosso

Toro Rosso STR6 – Floor splitter details

The floor splitter  is to split  airflow passing above and under the floor  . Renault last season added an additional side vent  to guide  air more effectively under the car , a trend followed by many teams including Toro Rosso . Apart from that the STR6 splitter has a thin leading edge because the ballast housed inside is placed close to the sides giving a U shape to the structure . The thin vertical pillar at front is to guarantee splitter stiffness obeying FIA deflection rules .

Toro Rosso STR6 – JEREZ TEST – Day two

JEREZ TEST – DAY 2     , 11 February 2011
Circuit: Circuito de Jerez – 4,423 kms
Driver: Jaime Alguersuari
Chassis: STR6 – 02
Best time: 1:21.214, 72 laps

Having taken over from Daniel Ricciardo in the cockpit of the STR6 yesterday afternoon, Jaime Alguersuari had the car to himself today. The good weather continued, allowing the team to work through a programme which featured three key elements; tyre evaluation, weight distribution and car set-up work. Sebastien Buemi takes over driving duties tomorrow, for the final two days of this test.

Jaime Alguersuari: “After another day and a half in the car here, following on from last week in Valencia, I feel we have made progress in terms of our understanding of the Pirelli tyres, which was one of our main targets this week. I tried all compounds except the Super-soft here and I had a good feeling from
the car with all of them, getting an idea of their different behaviour. I also made progress in terms of using the KERS and the DRS (downforce reduction system) which to be honest, does not look as complicated as I expected it to be. The important thing is that we are making progress every time I go out of the garage. In performance terms, it is still a bit too early to start drawing conclusions, especially as the lap times here vary a lot from the morning to theafternoon, but I am reasonably confident that this side of the car’s progress is on the right track. Of course, there is still a lot of work to do, but now Buemi will drive for another two days, so I expect to find even more improvements when I get back in the car in Barcelona next week.”

 

 

 

credit : Scuderia Toro Rosso

Toro Rosso STR6 – JEREZ TEST – Day one

JEREZ TEST – DAY 1         ,  10 February 2011
Circuit: Circuito de Jerez – 4,423 kms
Driver: Daniel Ricciardo
Chassis: STR6 – 02
Best time: 1:21.755, 31 laps
Driver: Jaime Alguersuari
Chassis: STR6 – 02
Best time: 1:22:689, 42 laps

After last week’s launch and three days of testing, Scuderia Toro Rosso, along with all but one of the teams entered in the Formula 1 World Championship, began the second of four pre-season sessions. This one will last a total of four days and, so far, the weather in Jerez has been warm and sunny. The team put in a lot of work at the factory, making changes to the STR 6 based on data acquired in Valencia and the first day in Jerez would suggest that those changes have delivered signs of progress. Today was a milestone for a product of the Red Bull Young Driver programme, as Daniel Ricciardo had his first ever drive in a Scuderia Toro Rosso car. The Australian, who will drive for the team in Free Practice 1 at most Grands Prix this year, completed 31 laps in the morning, before handing over to Jaime Alguersuari in the afternoon.

Daniel Ricciardo: “Jerez is where I first drove a Formula 1 car, when I tested for Red Bull Racing at the end of ’09 and the last time I drove an F1 car was last November, again with Red Bull in Abu Dhabi. It doesn’t sound like a long time, but three months out of a race car is long enough. It was good to be back in the cockpit. Fortunately, I seem to have remembered how to drive! Driving the Toro Rosso for the first time was another exciting experience for me. It went well and I did enough laps this morning to get settled in the cockpit, which is important, as I hope to get a bit more track time in testing, so that I can feel confident when I get to Bahrain and run in free practice on Friday morning at my first Grand Prix weekend. I also managed to use both of the important new elements, the KERS and the DRS (drag reduction system) which seemed to function as planned and I felt quite comfortable by the end of the morning.”

Jaime Alguersuari drives all day tomorrow (Friday) with Sebastien Buemi taking over for Saturday and Sunday.

 

 

credit : Scuderia Toro Rosso

 

Toro Rosso STR6 – Small teams do innovate

 

The new STR6 may look very similar to the STR5 even in details but a closer look reveals that many parts of the car are refined and also a surprising innovation from the team , the reincarnation of the twin floor originally featured by Ferrari F92A . Maybe 2011 will be the last season for the team as we know it because  Red Bull Racing owner revealed the last few months his intention to sell the team

 

Front Zone – Nose

 

The nose practically retains many characteristics from the STR5 , like the U-raised upper section but less deep now , inclined forward nose pillars but also some changes took place with the nose winglets to be removed backwards away from the nose tip and the skirts under the nose to be rejected . Probably the later changes are connected to how the STR6 twin floor functions .

 

 

Many similarities between the STR6 – STR5 suspension geometry are also obvious despite the tyre change from Bridgestone to Pirelli , with the steering axis also to be retained between the wishbones .

 

Car middle section

 

It is very hard to differ STR6 airbox zone from the STR5 one . Both have identical inlets to feed the engine with air and a pair of inclined outwards pillars . It is worthy to mention that in both cars the driver sits quite high with his head to exit quite above the head support . A high driver’s position which may offer a better visibility but cause a small raise to the COG and effects negatively the air entering above the helmet and into the airbox inlet . Maybe the KERS extra weight placed low on the chassis balances any raise of the COG caused by the higher driver body sitting .

 

Another change forced by the 2011 rules is also the ban of the shark fin connection to the rear wing and thus Toro Ross opted for a simpler totally shark fin-less cover . It would be no surprise to see some teams , including Toro Rosso ,  developing  a more sophisticated and complex engine cover focusing mainly on improving cooling efficiency

 

Sidepods

 

The trend and challenge for all teams is to make  the sidepod bottoms slimmer in order to improve the airflow towards the rear . This trend was decelerated  or even reversed in some occasions due to the refueling ban rule taking effect since 2010 (because 2010 cars had to carry twice as large fuel cells )  . The same was expected to happen also in 2011 due to KERS re-installation back to the cars but apparently Toro Rosso found the way to develop the slimmer sidepod bottom design and even evolve it to the next level . Instead of making the bottoms thinner Toro Rosso shifted up a little the engine radiators to make room underneath the sidepods forming a channel .

 

 

The higher placement of the radiators can be externally noticed by the fact that the sidepods form a V angle towards the car centre. This solution for sure rises a bit the Centre Of Gravity , something negative for a car , but provides a far better aero efficiency .

 

 

The STR6 bargeboards stand also shorter compared to STR5  to permit a larger quantity of airstream underneath the sidepods  , an airstream which is further energized by the exhausts emissions blowing close to the floor, to maximize the aero efficiency of this twin floor configuration .

 

Rear zone

 

The whole rear section is much lower and slimmer while the double deck diffuser is replaced by a single deck , a changed forced by the new 2011 rules regarding diffuser dimensions to restrict downforce production . Lastly the rear suspension remains pull rod .

 

 

Engine – KERS

 

Ferrari engine will power the STR6 like did before and furthermore part of the engine supply agreement between the two teams includes also  the Ferrari’s KERSystem supply to Toro Rosso , but only as customer version .

 

Tyres

 

Pirelli took Bridgestone place

 

Toro Rosso STR6 – VALENCIA TEST 3-2-2011

VALENCIA TEST – DAY 3 , 3 February 2011
Circuit: Ricardo Tormo – 4.005 kms
Driver: Sebastien Buemi
Chassis: STR6 – 02
Best time: 1:14.801, 73 laps

 

The first test session of the season came to an end this afternoon, after Jaime Alguersuari had given the STR6 its track debut on Tuesday. Sebastien Buemi took over yesterday afternoon and ran through all of today. Three days of testing is not enough to draw any real conclusions about performance and comparison with others is definitely not on the cards, given that some teams were still running 2010 cars, while Pirelli provided no less than three different types of tyres. While the trucks now travel south to Jerez de la Frontera, the engineers have a few days to analyse data and prepare a programme for the next four day test session which gets underway on Thursday 10 February.

Sebastien Buemi: “Another interesting day, my first full one in the new car. I was able to have a good look at all three compounds of tyre from Pirelli, from the Medium through to the Super-soft. I used KERS all day and we had no issues with the system. The first three days of running with the new car have been productive, and now we must prepare to make progress in Jerez next week.”

 

 

credit : Scuderia Toro Rosso

 

 

 

 

Toro Rosso STR6 – VALENCIA TEST 2-2-2011

VALENCIA TEST – DAY 2 , 2 February 2011
Circuit: Ricardo Tormo – 4.005 kms
Driver: Jaime Alguersuari
Chassis: STR6 – 02
Best time: 1:16.474, 64 laps
Driver: Sebastien Buemi
Chassis: STR6 – 02
Best time: 1:16.359, 46 laps

For the second day of the Valencia test and indeed the second ever day of track running for the STR6, Jaime Alguersuari was back in the cockpit this morning, while Sebastien Buemi took over in the afternoon for his first encounter with the new car. As the car had never turned a wheel before coming to Spain, yesterday was spent carrying out system checks, while today, both drivers were able to move on, completing a decent number of laps. All the running was aimed at developing a good understanding of the car and specifically, both drivers were able to have their first taste ofrunning KERS. This morning Jaime was able to try three Pirelli compounds, the Medium, Soft and Super-Soft, while Sebastien tried just the first two.

 

Jaime Alguersuari: “A much better day than yesterday, as we managed to complete many more laps this morning, getting a lot of useful data. There is much we have to learn at this stage, especially regarding the elements that are new in the regulations. It was particularly interesting using the KERS and I am beginning to understand how to use it, especially in the power recovery phase. I’m looking forward to getting back in the car next week in Jerez and moving the
development along still further.”

 

Sebastien Buemi: “This afternoon was my first time in the car and it felt good to be driving again after the winter break. I ran for about three hours managing 46 laps which is quite encouraging for a first day. It is going to be an interesting evening studying all the data as so much is new to us and we need to understand as well and as soon as possible how the car behaves. So tomorrow, will be a case of carrying on down this route.”

 

 

credit : Scuderia Toro Rosso

 

 

 

Toro Rosso STR6 Ferrari – Technical Specifications

Official car name: STR6

Engine: Ferrari V8 Type 056 + KERS

Chassis material: Composite monocoque structure

Bodywork material: Carbon-fibre composite

Front suspension: Upper and lower carbon wishbones, torsion bar springs and anti-roll bars, Sachs dampers

Rear suspension: Upper and lower carbon wishbones, torsion bar springs and anti-roll bars, Sachs dampers

Steering: Scuderia Toro Rosso

Gearbox: Seven-speed hydraulic

Clutch: Sachs pull-type

Calipers: Brembo

Pads and discs: Brembo

Cooling system (radiators, heat exchangers): Scuderia Toro Rosso

Cockpit instrumentation: Scuderia Toro Rosso Seat belts: OMP.

Steering wheel: Scuderia Toro Rosso

Driver’s seat: Carbon-fibre construction, moulded to driver’s shape

Extinguisher system: Scuderia Toro Rosso/FEV

Wheels: Advanti Racing

Fuel cell: ATL

Overall weight: 640 kg (including driver and camera)

 

 

credit : Scuderia Toro Rosso