Getting to know: Franz Tost
Franz Tost, was born at Trins, Austria on January 20, 1956, and currently works as team principal of the Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula One Team.
As a young lad, Franz Tost's big hero was fellow countryman Jochen Rindt: his bedroom walls were covered with posters of the Austrian ace and when it was dissertation time at school, Franz's classmates would all groan, as they knew what was coming – another bloody eulogy to Rindt. Inevitably, Tost found himself behind the wheel, racing a Formula Ford. He was quick enough to win the 1983 Austrian FF Championship, but he felt he would not make it to the top as a driver so a degree in Sports Management from Innsbruck University was next on the agenda. This led to a job at the Walter Lechner Racing School at the Zeltweg circuit.
From there Tost moved to a team management role with EUFRA Racing and at the end of 1993, he took the post of team manager with Willi Weber's Formula 3 team. It was here that he crossed paths with Ralf Schumacher and Weber asked Tost to accompany the youngster to Japan. This led to looking after Ralf's interests at Jordan and then Williams, prior to taking on the role of Operations Manager with BMW's Formula 1 programme. From there, he took on the role of Team Principal with the newly formed Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2005.
Career highlights
1978 - 82: Degree in Sports Sciences, University of Innsbuck, Austria.
1982 - 85: Degree in Sport Management, University of Vienna, Austria.
1979 - 85: Competed in Formula Ford 1600, Formula Ford 2000, and Formula 3.
1983 : Austrian Formula Ford 1600 Champion
1985 - 88: Walter Lechner Racing School - Director and Instructor, Walter Lechner Racing Team - Team Manager in Formula Ford, Formula 3.
1989 - 91: EUFRA Racing Team - Team Manager
1992 - 93: Vienna Racing Team - Deputy Manager
1993 - 95: WTS Formula 3 Team - Team Manager
1995 - 00: Weber Management - Marketing Manager
2000 - 05: BMW Williams F1 - Race Track Operation Manager
2006 - : Scuderia Toro Rosso - Team Manager
COURTESY OF SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO S.p.A.