As a young lad, Franz Tost’s big hero was fellow countryman Jochen Rindt: his bedroom walls were covered with posters of the Austrian ace and when it was dissertation time at school, Franz’s classmates would all groan, as they knew what was coming – another bloody eulogy to Rindt. Inevitably, Tost found himself behind the wheel, racing a Formula Ford. He was quick enough to win the 1983 Austrian FF Championship, but he felt he would not make it to the top as a driver so a degree in Sports Management from Innsbruck University was next on the agenda. This led to a job at the Walter Lechner Racing School at the Zeltweg circuit.

From there, Tost moved to a team management role with EUFRA Racing and at the end of 1993, he was taken on as team manager to Willi Weber’s Formula 3 team. It was here that he first crossed paths with Ralf Schumacher and Weber asked Tost to accompany the youngster to Japan. The relationship continued when Ralf stepped up to Formula 1, driving for Jordan and then Williams. That in turn led to Tost being appointed Operations Manager with BMW’s Formula 1 programme. Then in 2005, he was appointed Team Principal with the newly formed Scuderia Toro Rosso. To this day, Franz has been at the helm of our team and today, he continues to steer it in the new Scuderia AlphaTauri era with the same enthusiasm as always.