Toro Rosso STR7 – first pictures and video of Toro Rosso’s 2012 F1 car

2012 F1 cars

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Toro Rosso revealed their 2012 F1 car, the STR7, in Jerez today.

Toro Rosso have an all-new driver line-up for 2012, with Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne taking over from Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi.

Toro Rosso STR7 pictures

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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57 comments on “Toro Rosso STR7 – first pictures and video of Toro Rosso’s 2012 F1 car”

  1. Wow, that’s gorgeous! Best looking car so far in my opinion. It almost makes the stepped nose blend in with the rest of the design. Livery still looks amazing too. I love it!

    1. In fact, I think the release this car has been the trigger point for me. Before it didn’t really feel like the season had begun, but now I’m truly excited for it to begin!

    2. @Dan-thorn Completely agree – it looks stunning in this shot in particular.

  2. Not a bad shape at all! I like it!

    I’m not liking the direction their livery is going in, however. The gold endplates look sickly, and the Cepsa branding just doesn’t look right.

    OK, the marathon of car launches is finally over! It’s 4 AM, I think it’s bed time. :P

  3. One of the most beautiful cars of 2012 . Great Livery.

  4. Always loved Toro Rosso’s cars, the more red and gold they use, the better the car gets

  5. every year I hope torro rosso will change and use the diet red bull colours instead , nice looking car all the same

    1. I’m with you on wishing they’d set themselves apart. It’ll continue to feel like Red Bull Jr. and not a separate team until they really brand themselves more distinctly different.

      1. Or RBR take on the colours of the can of drink, and leave Toro Rosso with this? As its much better than the what RBR have at the moment.

      2. @joey-poey They are RBR Jr. though. That much was proven when they had finished ‘developing’ Alguersuari and Buemi.

  6. Wow, really unique heavily undercutted sidepods. They look like rockets bolted to the sides of the car. I like them!

    1. Yeah, rockets or missiles on the sides. I quite like the red and gold colour schemes that have appeared on the Toro Rosso. For me Cepsa looks great on the rear wing and its endplates as does the Falcon Private Bank colours on the front wing endplates.

  7. With all the paint stripped off, the STR6 was my favourite looking car of 2011.

    This year, it’s looking like the STR7 will be the looker of 2012, too!

  8. Damn that nose is skinny. Don’t think I would like to get run over by that!

    1. Concerns about the shape and right angle cockpit impacts. Blade shapes slice easier than blunt ends. Is there any FIA data on that type of testing?

      1. Yes, it’s exactly why the new lower nose regulations have been introduced this year – because last year some noses were higher than the cockpit anti-intrusion panels.

        See: How the 2012 rules will influence F1 car design

        1. Thanks for that info. The noses seem so thin compared to the past. Worried about the forces generated during an impact and how those forces would react to other parts of the car.

      2. That nose will disintegrate quite quickly upon impact, it is an energy dispersing part of the car. The Side impact protection is very solid and is designed to adsorb the impact by bending. The Side impact would always win that battle.

  9. Might sound like a stupid question, but…

    Y is it that all the cars up till now have the steeped nose, except MCLAREN? :S

    1. McLaren have a lower chassis than the other teams, meaning they don’t have to have the abrupt step between the bulkhead and the nose with the other teams have to accommodate the new regulations.

      1. Nigelstash (@)
        6th February 2012, 18:03

        I hope their lower chassis concept is a good idea. It would be sad to see them back in the midfield after a big miscalculation – it does seem that every other team is going the same way and I can’t believe they are all wrong, especially red bull. Anyone got any deeper explanation of the pros and cons of these different concepts?

        1. I’m not qualified to comment on the pros & cons of each, but the McLaren shape seems to be more of an evolution of last year’s concept. Their nose was by far the lowest last year & it worked quite well. The fact that they’re the only team running a conventional nose doesn’t worry me: they were the only team running u-shaped side pods last season too, & that concept worked great too. I think they’ll have an easier time coming to grips with it than they would with a clean sheet design. It appears that most designs on the grid so far are evolutions of last season’s concepts (Ferrari being the glaring exception, of course… but of all the top teams, they were probably the most disappointed with their car’s performance last season: hence the massive redesign), which seems logical to me, but I’m no expert.

          1. You would think that the McLaren would have less drag also?

          2. It’s possible. The design does appear to be more cohesive. I also read over @ Scarbs that the low nose & chassis on the McLaren gives it a lower center of gravity, which allows for less extreme suspension geometry, & a lower COG should translate to better handling dynamics overall. If it all works according to plan it might lead to better wear on the front tires as well (I’m guessing they might even be able to run less aggressive camber & still have good front end grip… but that’s just me making a semi-educated guess).
            Based on how good they were last season with the low nose, & the fact that they’ve elected not to do a complete rehash, I’m inclined to think they’ve got a good design that they’re comfortable with. As I remember it, the MP4-26 had plenty of front grip & good turn-in. If they’ve managed to dial out the porpoising at the top end, it might prove to be even better this time around. A good front end alone doesn’t make a good car though, so I’m hoping the MP4-27 is the complete package. They’ll need it because you can be sure the Red Bull won’t be slow.

  10. Sooo… last years car with a screwed up nose, then? :P

  11. Generally I think it’s fairly nice, but I don’t agree that it’s the best looking car so far- that nose is too lumpy and then horribly flat at the front. I do like those sidepods though. Those rear wing endplates should not be block red, as it just draws attention to how large they are.

  12. I still don’t like the gold splodges and if they were actually in a thought out design I’d like them, I’m not a fan of the paintwork on the rear wing either but this is still a very pretty car.

  13. Richard F150 - I am not a truck
    6th February 2012, 17:17

    Nice – now if they could only do something with the paintwork to allow me to tell the difference between it and the RB8 during the race.

    1. The good car differentiator is the “Red Bull” sign on the sidepods of both cars. It’s much bigger on Red Bull than on Toro Rosso.

    2. Bright Yellow on the nose and behind the driver’s head on the Red Bull. Toro Rosso has Gold nose and Blue airbox.

    3. Well, if the car is surrounded by Williams’, Force Indias and Saubers, it’s a Toro Rosso.
      If its out in front surrounded by no one, it’s a Red Bull!

  14. I always thought it’d look pretty cool if they changed the dark blue to a black, myself.

  15. The car looks great – again, apart from the nose – as it’s a 2011-looking car (the airbox is similar to the 150° Italia’s one). The livery is great as always, the gold could be better placed but the rear wing looks out of place.

  16. That looks alright. It doesn’t really look like properly stepped section compared to it’s big brother, it looks more like the edges have been raised and the middle looks fairly smooth. The 2010 Toro Rosso does this as well.

  17. I’m getting used to the noses looking like platypus now, but I’m starting to think all the cars just look too similar, except the McLaren with it’s smooth nose of course and the hideous Ferrari at the other extreme, I’m glad they all have such distinctive livery or we wouldn’t be able to tell them apart!
    On the plus side I hope this means we get more even racing, Vettel seems to think the rules will close the field up, I’m not so convinced that’s not just him hedging his bets a bit.
    I’d just like to see a bit more variety of shape and design but I know it’s difficult.

    1. No the field will definitely be close because of the ban in blown exhaust. The big teams took better advantage of that with Red Bull at the top so now everyone will be closer.

  18. One of the more attractive cars for 2012, and I agree about the blue and gold colours, they are great. Wish there was more gold though – these sponsors ruin livery don’t they!

  19. Those sidepods look extreme packaging especially if you consider all the opponents still looks like STR and RBR departure ways cause this car has a completly different concept, the RB8 looks like it is still very focused in the coke bottle, the diffuser and exhaust, this looks more like the Mclaren and Ferrari.

    1. everyone will have cooling issues but I dont think they can keep the sidepods like that, Red Bulls look very small but they also have a big intake and may have a linkage to the rear I cant see that in here.

      1. Remember Toro Rosso use a Ferrari engine so they will presumably have a third radiator at the back like the F2012.

  20. Best looking livery as always.

  21. I’m really glad that there are some cars that have got the aesthetics right, regarding the step in the nose. In my opinion, the McLaren still looks the best, but this and the Force India are definitely good-looking as well.

    I’m intrigued by the sizeable undercut that the Toro Rosso has gone with here. Here’s hoping for an even more competitive Formula 1 season.

    Bring on pre-season testing :D

  22. I know that some people are fans of Daniel Riccardo smile, but It reminds me at when I ask my frined 5 year old daughter to smile.

    Is it me of this picture look red…

    1. You’re not alone here, I too am horrified by Ricciardo’s “smile”.

      1. Speaking of, isn´´t it weird that neither Giorgio Ascanelli nor Franz Tost and Giorgio Ascanelli are in the launge…

      2. Ricciardo & Maldonado. A never before seen ‘brace of braces’ in F1.

    2. He’s just very, very, very, very, very happy.
      The other extreme being Raikkonen, as when he says he’s “very happy” he still looks as though he’s at a funeral.

    3. Rather see a happy smile than the arrogant one we see on the champion driver’s face.

  23. One of the best looking cars on the 2012 grid.Just awesome the livery.And the shape of the car is also very nice :) I’m looking forward for first session of testing.

    1. I agree but let’s see how it performs. All this ‘beauty’ is for naught if they can’t bag a podium this season.

      1. A podium? I think you need to get a hold of yourself.

        1. Tell that to Helmut Marko. If they don’t score a podium, we’ll see other ‘potential Vettels’ racing for TR next season.

  24. Great looking car there!

  25. I think if this team was independent rather than Red Bull number 2 it could be a very popular outfit.

    I think the Red Bull connection hurts them that way.

    1. I’d like to remind you that they were Minardi some time ago and constantly on the brink of going bankrupt. I think if anything the Red Bull connection kept them alive.

  26. Another lovely looking car from Toro Rosso. Looks better than the RB8 but I expected it would.

    I think this and the E20 have the best looking stepped noses so far.

  27. Wow! Look at the sidepods on this thing too, the floor is pretty interesting!

    Just catching up with all the car launches as I’ve been away! I’m like a kid in a candy shop!

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