Franz Tost: What sets Sebastian Vettel and others apart from other drivers

– As team principal at Toro Rosso, Franz Tost worked with numerous future Formula 1 stars. Daniel Ricciardo and Carlos Sainz, for example, started for him there, and Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen also raced under Tost at the beginning of their careers in the top class.

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While Vettel and Verstappen later became world champions four times in a row each with Red Bull, other drivers never made the big breakthrough. Due to his many years of work with young drivers, Tost knows exactly what distinguishes successful from less successful drivers.

The most important point is that Vettel and Verstappen have “an incredible talent,” Tost explains in an interview with 15 Love – the Business Podcast. Without talent, you cannot become world champion, the Austrian makes clear, but that alone is not enough. You also have to show the necessary commitment.

Vettel and Verstappen have a huge “passion for the sport,” reports Tost. “All these drivers who have won world championships, for them only racing counts, nothing else,” he emphasizes. That also distinguished Michael Schumacher, for example.

“Then these drivers are incredibly disciplined,” Tost names another point. That does not only mean “that they arrive on time for the meeting,” he explains. “They pay attention to how they develop physically, that is physical training, also mental training.”

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Photo series: Red Bull juniors in Formula 1

In addition, the drivers also take care, for example, of “how they need to eat properly to get the best out of themselves,” says Tost. After a race, this is followed by an intensive study of the data – and also a certain amount of self-criticism.

“These drivers are very creative. They always think: How can I get even better? They are also honest with themselves. They don’t say: The car was bad or the tires were bad or the engine was bad,” explains Tost.

Instead, the drivers analyze their own mistakes to avoid them in the future. Besides their own weaknesses, the drivers also closely examine their opponents to identify their weak points. “They are informed about everything,” says Tost.

In summary, the now 70-year-old explains: “For them, only racing counts and nothing else. They are all also insane egoists. But they are very successful.”

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