Toro Rosso accidents cost over 2m euros in 2018

Franz Tost has revealed the extent of some of Toro Rosso's issues in 2018 - and the financial state after a mixed season for the Red Bull junior side.

As far as the engine was concerned, Toro Rosso will be pleased. Their first season with Honda ended with them outscoring McLaren, when they had the same power unit.

However, Toro Rosso had other problems in 2018. A failed aerodynamic update was one of them and far too many crashes resulting in a damaged chassis throughout the campaign.

"We had too many accidents," team boss Tost told Formel1.de. "We spent 2.3 million euros only due to accidents."

Tost does not blame the drivers for that, though, and has explained that they were to often in unfortunate situations. "Some races were not really that good," Tost added.

"But there were highlights: When (Pierre) Gasly finished fourth in Bahrain and he also managed a good race in Monaco. We also finished sixth in Budapest and Spa was also a good race because we did not expect to get in the points (at Spa)."

Gasly and his team-mate Brendon Hartley will not be driving for Toro Rosso next season; but for two very different reasons. Gasly has been promoted to Red Bull Racing, to partner Max Verstappen in 2019.

However, Hartley struggled to impress for Toro Rosso, and has been axed from the side; with the two drivers being replaced by Daniil Kvyat and Alexander Albon.