Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko says that both Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi were dropped at Toro Rosso because "we need winners".

11299 - Alguersuari and Buemi 'not winners' - Marko

The pair were replaced in December by Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne, with team principal Franz Tost saying that the team is a "rookie training school and with over two seasons under your belt, you are no longer a rookie." Now Marko has added his opinion, telling La Gazzetta dello Sport that while both drivers were good enough to compete in Formula One, neither was good enough to win.

"Toro Rosso was created to give young drivers a chance," Marko said. "Alguersuari and Buemi had it for three years and after this time it's possible to evaluate a driver's development. We haven't seen in them any possibility of growth. Both are worthy of grand prix racing, but for us that's not enough: we need winners."

Marko also said that the role of Toro Rosso would remain unchanged, even though the team has become more distanced from Red Bull as an independent chassis constructor.

"It will certainly remain an Italian team based in Faenza, oriented towards young drivers. But Toro Rosso will have to keep developing more and more autonomously."