Toro Rosso's Franz Tost says Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari were replaced because they are no longer F1 rookies.
Team boss defends decision to replace drivers
Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost has said the decision to replace Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari was down to the fact that they are no longer Formula One rookies.
The Italian-based outfit announced wholesale changes to their driver line-up on Wednesday, with Buemi and Alguersuari making way for Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne for the 2012 season.
All four are products of Red Bull's Young Driver programme but Tost insisted that Buemi and Alguersuari, who had both raced for the team since 2009, had been given time enough to prove themselves.
"Sebastien has been with us for three seasons and Jaime for two and a half. Both of them worked hard for the team, doing their very best and achieving some good results," Tost said. "However, Scuderia Toro Rosso's ethos has always been that of the "rookie training school" and with over two seasons under your belt, you are no longer a rookie.
"In an ideal world, drivers would move from Scuderia Toro Rosso to Red Bull Racing, but there are no vacancies with our sister team right now. It might be seen as a harsh decision, but Formula 1 is a tough environment and Toro Rosso has always been very clear about the principles behind its driver choice."
Formerly Minardi, Toro Rosso were bought by Red Bull at the end of the 2005 season as junior team to senior outfit Red Bull Racing.
Double world champion Sebastian Vettel, who won the Italian Grand Prix for Toro Rosso in 2008, remains the only driver to make a successful move between teams.
Education
Tost also denied that being forced to rely on young, inexperienced drivers was a source of frustration for the team.
"It's not frustrating, in fact quite the opposite," he insisted. "It is a very interesting experience for everyone in the team to work with young drivers and it means you can educate them the way you want.
"Everyone, from the race engineers to the communications people can try and give the new drivers good habits, which they can use for the rest of their career."
