The STR6 could be called the first proper car produced by Scuderia Toro Rosso in its Faenza factory. The last car to be fully designed and constructed there was the Minardi PS05 (examples of which remain there). It was rolled out at Valencia to many raised eyebrows, clearly an advanced design with some interesting concepts.
While the livery featuring the famous red bull remains pretty much the same, underneath the paintwork, the STR6 is radically different to its predecessor.
This year’s design is less conservative than in 2010 and naturally takes into account the requirements set out in the technical regulation changes, such as the banning of double diffusers, blown rear wings and adjustable front wings, to be replaced with the arrival of adjustable rear wings and the return, after a one-year break, of KERS. The STR6 uses the Ferrari system with batteries situated in the fuel cell area. 
The STR6 features very interesting undercut sidepods, similar in concept to the twin floor Ferrari F92A of 1992. A clear attempt to recapture some of the downforce lost with the smaller diffusers mandated in 2011.
The STR6 exhaust is mounted on the floor of the car just ahead of the rear wheel. Cooling gills are common place this year on the rear of cars and the STR6 is no different. The Pull rod is just visible in the image above actuating the cars ZF Sachs dampers.
At the front of the chassis the car is largely conventional, with the torsion bars found in the usual location. In the picture below the upper damper mount is also visible
The floor of the car is fairly simple at the moment, with nothing to discuss in depth.
Updates
At the test a simplified front wing was run, gone were the bridge elements used on the car at the last test. See below
Note the revised front wing end plate and simplified bridge wing. The more complex version run at the last test is below.
As well as the front wing Toro Rosso revised its front brake ducts which clearly interact with the flow structure down stream of the wing and upstream of the very undercut sidepods.
The new spec brake duct features a very small turning vane which is larger and has a wider angle than the version run in conjunction with the more complex front wings.
Ahead of the first race revisions were also made to the turning vane on the sidepod. At the launch of the STR6 the upright vane had straight edges on both sides (below)
But by the Jerez test the vane had been revised, possibly inspired by the Force India concept with a cut out on the trailing edge.
Melbourne
Chassis: STR6-02 (Beumi)
Chassis: STR6-04 (Alguersuari)
Franz Tost: “A good result for the whole team, because to score a point in the first race proves that everyone at Toro Rosso worked well over the winter and everyone here at the track, back in the factory and at our wind tunnel deserves praise for that. Buemi had a good start, but unfortunately, at the first corner, Alguersuari drove into him and this had a negative impact on the performance of Buemi’s car for the rest of the afternoon. Nevertheless, Sebastien performed well and did a very good job. Given all the negative comments we heard over the winter about their tyres, Pirelli should also be congratulated on their performance here, especially when you consider that one car finished in the points making just one pit stop throughout the race. Finally, well done to Sebastian Vettel for starting the season with another win for Red Bull. We can now prepare for Malaysia, with the confirmation that we have started out on the right foot and we must work to maintain this momentum.”
Sepang
Chassis: STR6-02 (Beumi)
Chassis: STR6-03 (Alguersuari)
Franz Tost: “Both drivers made a reasonably good start, with Alguersuari completing the opening lap in eleventh place, one ahead of Buemi. On lap 8, Sebastien passed Jaime, showing a very good pace at this stage of the race, closing up on those ahead of him. We called him in for his first pit stop, but the Pit Lane Speed Limiter was deactivated and because of this, he exceeded the limit and was given a ten second stop-go penalty. From then on Seb’s race was compromised and if it had not been for that, he could have been in the fight for ninth place. As for Jaime, he struggled with rear tyre degradation and I think it would have helped if we had put him on a three stop strategy, instead of two. Fortunately, our closest competitors in the championship did not pick up that many points today, so we are still in reasonable shape in the Constructors’ classification. However, the mid-field is very close at the moment, which means we have to do a better job, starting in Shanghai in a few days time.”
Shanghai
Chassis: STR6-02 (Beumi)
Chassis: STR6-03 (Alguersuari)
Laurent Mekies, Chief Engineer: “Neither car got a great start, losing us the benefit of our strong qualifying performance. After that, we brought Jaime in fairly early to have him running a three stop strategy. But we had to retire the car soon after the pit stop as we lost a wheel. At the moment, we are examining the exact cause of this incident. Sebastien came in for his first tyre change a few laps later when we discovered that he had some front wing damage, so we called him in again to change the nose as he could not continue like that. From then on, he drove a strong race on a two stop strategy, which was our only chance to get us back in the rhythm of the race after the time lost just 15 laps after the start. He drove well, racing the Williams, getting Maldonaldo and finishing right on Barrichello’s gearbox.”
Istanbul
Chassis: STR6-02 (Beumi)
Chassis: STR6-03 (Alguersuari)
Franz Tost, Team Principal: “Given our qualifying performance yesterday which put us in sixteenth and seventeenth places on the grid, we are happy to have finished in ninth place with Sebastien Buemi. He delivered his best performance of the season so far, as he was racing around eighth place for most of the race and occasionally even higher. Unfortunately, coming under pressure from the Lotus Renaults, who had much fresher tyres, he was unable to defend that position on the final lap. The team deserves praise for running a good strategy and we have picked up a further two points today, which is important in our battle in the Constructors’ Championship. In Barcelona, I hope that we can challenge for points.”
At the Turkish Grand Prix the STR6 was fitted with a revised exhaust exit with additional shrouds to channel the hot flow.
The cars were also fitted with a new rear wing which dips in the centre of the upper element. This design only appeared at Istanbul and the early season version returned for the next race at Barcelona (below)
Barcelona
Chassis: STR6-02 (Beumi) Q: 11 R:14
Chassis: STR6-03 (Alguersuari) Q: 13 R:16
Toro Rosso’s weekend did not get off to a flying start thanks to an issue requiring an engine change between the two free practice sessions. After further investigation the team found that it was an installation problem rather than a fault with the unit itself. A number of updates tested during practice were carried over to qualifying, with the team opting for an aggressive single run strategy for Beumi, saving a set of soft tyres for the race.
Monaco
Chassis: STR6-02 (Beumi) Q: 17 R: 10
Chassis: STR6-03 (Alguersuari) Q: 20 R: DNF
Franz Tost: “Another very exciting Formula 1 race, with action from the very beginning to the end, including a re-start. On top of that, the top three finished within 2.3 seconds, having each gone for different strategies – a one stop, a two and a three, which shows how complex it is to find the best strategy these days. From the Toro Rosso point of view, the whole team did a good job as we come away with one point, which was better than we could have expected after a rather disappointing qualifying performance yesterday. Sebastien Buemi did a very good job, not making any mistakes which is not easy at Monaco, eventually finishing six places higher than his grid position. Jaime Alguersuari was unfortunately involved in the accident that brought out the final safety car and then the red flag. He had nowhere to go and he could not avoid it. Now, we must analyse why our qualifying performance was not good enough, whereas our race pace was better. For the next two races, we will have the same Soft and Supersoft Pirelli tyres, which suggests that Montreal and Valencia should also produce some exciting racing.”
Another new rear wing was fitted to the cars for Monaco, the new one is far more sculpted than the previous two iterations.
Montreal
Chassis: STR6-01 (Beumi) Q: 15 R: 10
Chassis: STR6-04 (Alguersuari) Q: 18 R: 8
Canada saw both STR drivers in different chassis, with Buemi in STR6-01 and Alguersauri in STR6-04. The end result was their best points haul yet, despite Algusuari starting from the pitlane.
Franz Tost “Once again, an exciting Formula 1 race: I thought Monaco was the peak, but yet again today we had another fantastic Grand Prix which is important as this sport is supposed to be entertainment. For Scuderia Toro Rosso, this is our best result of the year, as it is the first time we have got both our cars home in the points. I am very happy for Jaime that he finished eighth, getting his first points of the season. It will be good for his self-confidence as he has been struggling slightly in recent races and we can expect better things from him now, in Valencia and the following races. Sebastien also did a good job, coming home tenth. Our strategy worked well, gambling to come in early to change to slicks, which proved to be the correct decision and paid off. In fact, the whole team deserves praise today, as it was not easy managing the situation over such a long time with the break in the middle of the race, but they did an excellent job. We can now look forward to Valencia, where we should have some new parts on the car aimed at improving our performance.”
A low drag setup of the new rear wing concept was run in the few dry sessions at Montreal, here the sculpting of the new foil can be seen well
Valencia
Chassis: STR6-01 (Beumi) Q: 17 R: 10
Chassis: STR6-04 (Alguersuari) Q: 18 R: 8
Toro Roso struggled for pace during qualifying, however, a two stop strategy for Alguersauri paid of with an 8th place finish.
Franz Tost “I think in future we should sit out qualifying and just save the tyres for the race! But seriously, today the team did a fantastic job opting for a two-stop strategy for Alguersuari, making him the only points finisher to do this. Jaime demonstrated he can deliver a strong race drive, getting a good start and then running at a fast pace from the early stages onwards. Particularly impressive was the way he defended his position in the final laps. It was another fantastic performance just two weeks after he also finished eighth in Canada. In general, his performance curve is going upwards so we can expect more races like this from him in the future. As for Buemi, he was on a different strategy, based on three stops. Unfortunately, he was unable to get the most out of his short stints, even though he was doing similar lap times to Alguersuari in the early stages. In terms of the championship, the team has done a good job as we finished ahead of our closest rivals, Force India and Sauber, closing the gap very slightly to the Swiss team. I must also congratulate everyone who has worked so hard back in Faenza and Bicester, because we had many new parts on the car this weekend and this package definitely worked well, which means we can look forward to this busy period of another three races in four weeks with optimism.”
The STR6 was fitted with a new exhaust layout still exiting to the rear but with an exposed metal pipe on the rear floor. The exit position and shape had also changed.
Silverstone
Chassis: STR6-01 (Beumi) Q: 17 R: DNF
Chassis: STR6-04 (Alguersuari) Q: 16 R: 10
Franz Tost:“Another exciting race in general and also for Scuderia Toro Rosso in particular, because yet again we finished in the points, the sixth time from nine races this season and the fourth time in a row. It was also another good performance from Jaime. He had a fantastic race, building on a good start. In the final stages he caught up to Schumacher and came close to passing him on the last lap. Unfortunately, Sebastien’s race ended after a collision with Di Resta, which in my opinion was quite clearly the fault of the Force India driver, as he came up the inside and did not stop, destroying Buemi’s left rear tyre, which meant he had to retire at the side of the track. In race conditions, the STR 6 seems to work very well as it produced some excellent lap times. Overall the team did a good job, including the choice of strategies and we were competitive throughout the afternoon. All these positive factors mean we can look forward to the next round at the Nurburgring with confidence.”
Nurburgring
Chassis: STR6-01 (Beumi) Q: 16 (started 24) R: 15
Chassis: STR6-04 (Alguersuari) Q: 17 : 12
Toro Rosso’s qualifying session was spoiled by the demotion of Buemi to 24th after a fuel sample did not match that previously taken by the FIA. The team explained that this was due to the entire fuel system being changed after FP2 due to a pressure issue. The team believes that a chemical in the new component contaminated the fuel supply.
Franz Tost:“The Nurburgring does not seem to be a Toro Rosso track. Yesterday, we had a problem with Sebastien, when his post-qualifying fuel sample did not match the one supplied to the FIA, as it got contaminated when we changed the fuel pressure system after it caused problems on Friday. This meant he had to start from the back of the grid. However, he made a good start, moving up six places on the opening lap to be eighteenth. Then he had an incident with Heidfeld, which punctured his right rear tyre, so he had to pit, which forced us to change his strategy. From then on, he was always running around position 15 where he eventually finished the race. Adding to his difficulties, his car had been set up yesterday in anticipation of a wet race, but unfortunately for him it stayed dry. Jaime drove a good race, with a reasonable start, making up two places in the opening moments to lie fourteenth. He defended well, producing good lap times, even on the Prime tyre, moving up to twelfth at the flag, which was the best we could hope for.”
Hungaroring
Chassis: STR6-01 (Beumi) Q: 18 R: 8
Chassis: STR6-04 (Alguersuari) Q: 10
Franz Tost “With some help from two excellent performances from our drivers, the team gave itself the best possible present to celebrate Scuderia Toro Rosso’s one hundredth Grand Prix, since we first took to the track in Bahrain in 2006. A combined eighth and tenth place finish is our best result of the season so far and from a strategy point of view, the team did an excellent job in difficult and changeable conditions, while the drivers made the most of that, delivering faultless drives without making any mistakes. Their lap times were also impressive this afternoon, so there are plenty of reasons to look forward to the rest of the season. Congratulations to everyone in the team at the track and those who work so hard at our factory and in the wind tunnel. They deserve the short break we have ahead of us, before returning to continue the fight in Spa- Francorchamps.”
Spa-Francorchamps
Chassis: STR6-03 (Beumi) Q: 11 R: DNF
Chassis: STR6-02 (Alguersuari) Q: 6 R: DNF
Two new chassis for Toro Rosso at Spa and both of them fitted with new aerodynamic parts. Not that they had any chance to show what they could do…
Franz Tost “Both our drivers had very short races, before being knocked out in incidents that were not their fault, a view supported by the race officials, who penalised Senna and Perez for the collisions with Jaime and Sebastien respectively. Of course, this is very disappointing given our strong showing in qualifying, which meant we were hoping to score a good number of points today. However, on the positive side, both our drivers performed very well throughout the weekend and all the updates introduced on the STR6 appear to have delivered an increase in performance. Given all the hard work completed over the past few weeks prior to the break, in the factory at Faenza and the wind tunnel in Bicester, I think everyone at Scuderia Toro Rosso deserved a better reward than to see both cars go out of the race so early. However, our pace here was encouraging and means we can look forward to trying again in two weeks time, for what is our home race at Monza.”
At Spa the STR6 was fitted with a new nosecone, far more pointed than the previous version. It passed its crash test on 4th August. In the above image you can also see the under nose vanes fitted after the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Another new rear wing was introduced at Spa and dropped the highly sculpted concept introduced at Monaco.
