Tost reveals surprise over three drivers who fell short in F1

Outgoing AlphaTauri Team Principal Franz Tost has named three drivers that he's surprised failed to enjoy successful F1 careers.

Tost oversaw the day-to-day operation of Red Bull's sister team for 18 years before opting to retire at the end of this year's campaign.

The Austrian worked with 17 drivers throughout his time at the helm of AlphaTauri, which ran under the Toro Rosso moniker from 2006 to 2019.

Several drivers have enjoyed success in F1 after progressing through the sister team, including Max Verstappen, Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo.

However, others had short stints or unsuccessful terms within the Red Bull umbrella.

Tost admitted surprise that both Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniil Kvyat, who were team-mates at Toro Rosso in 2014, didn't enjoy favourable F1 careers.

“Jean-Eric Vergne, I think he could have made a successful career in Formula 1, as well as Daniil Kvyat, both of them are really very, very fast,” he told media including RacingNews365.com

“And Jean-Eric Vergne showed this also in Formula E, I think he won twice the World Championship.”

Tost also listed Sebastien Buemi, who won championships in Formula E and the World Endurance Championship after departing F1

“Sebastian Buemi sometimes showed good performance,” he said.

“He also won the 24 hours of Le Mans, so they were drivers in our team, they really had high skills.

“They were then sorted out because another driver was coming and we simply don't have so many places, neither at Red Bull Racing nor at Scuderia Toro Rosso, Scuderia AlphaTauri.

“But from the skills, nearly all the drivers reached a quite high level.”