This weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is the final Formula 1 race of the 2019 season, which also means the end of an era for the team that has been known as Toro Rosso since 2006. While under the same ownership, the team will race under the Alpha Tauri name, which refers to a Red Bull owned clothing label. To mark this occasion, we have taken a closer look at the Toro Rosso STR3 Ferrari, which is by far the most successful car fielded by the team. Introduced partway into the 2008 season, it was a derivative of the Grand Prix racer fielded by Red Bull racing the previous season. The STR3's biggest claim to fame was the victory from pole position in the Italian Grand Prix by Sebastian Vettel, making him the youngest ever Grand Prix winner. The team finished sixth overall that year, which, embarrassingly, was even better than Red Bull Racing.
Before the team morphed into Toro Rosso, it raced as Minardi for just over two decades. The Giancarlo Minardi run squad was not overly successful but did have a fine reputation for introducing young talents to Formula 1. In the the 21 years the team was active, a Minardi only lead a race once. The car used that day was the M189 Ford campaigned during the 1989 season. It was designed by Nigel Couperwaithe, was assisted by Aldo Costa, who would later go on to pen the world championship winning Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix cars. Beautifully restored, we captured this M189 at the 2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed where it was reunited with original driver Pierluigi Martini.

Enjoy the links:

1989 Minardi M189 Ford

2008 Toro Rosso STR3 Ferrari