| By Lawrence Barretto and Jonathan Noble | Friday, February 27th 2015, 18:47 GMT |
Nico Hulkenberg says that a "remarkable" debut outing for the new Force India Formula 1 car is still not enough to make up for lost time ahead of the season
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| By Lawrence Barretto and Ben Anderson | Friday, February 27th 2015, 20:05 GMT |
Mercedes is way ahead of the Formula 1 field according to its rivals, following Nico Rosberg's scintillating lap in the final pre-season test at Barcelona
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| By Ben Anderson | Friday, February 27th 2015, 20:24 GMT |
Jenson Button says completing over 100 laps for McLaren-Honda in Friday's Formula 1 test at Barcelona felt "like 1000 laps", because of the repeated troubles it has endured so far
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| By Lawrence Barretto | Thursday, February 26th 2015, 19:55 GMT |
Romain Grosjean believes the safety of drivers who are involved in crashes with a lateral impact needs to be improved following Fernando Alonso's accident last week
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| By Mitchell Adam | Thursday, February 26th 2015, 19:00 GMT |
Ferrari is set to introduce new aerodynamic components on Friday, as it gradually upgrades its aero package during Barcelona's final pre-season test
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| By Ben Anderson and Jonathan Noble | Thursday, February 26th 2015, 19:57 GMT |
Felipe Massa believes that Mercedes still has the edge in Formula 1 - despite the Williams driver setting the fastest time of pre-season testing at Barcelona on Thursday
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| By Dieter Rencken and Jonathan Noble | Wednesday, February 25th 2015, 16:50 GMT |
Formula 1's smaller outfits are pushing to be allowed to share more car parts in the future in a bid to help lower costs
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| By Jonathan Noble | Wednesday, February 25th 2015, 16:26 GMT |
The FIA has confirmed that it is to investigate the circumstances surrounding McLaren driver Fernando Alonso's Barcelona Formula 1 testing accident to find out if lessons can be learned
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| By Marcus Simmons | Wednesday, February 25th 2015, 18:16 GMT |
Pietro Fittipaldi, the grandson of Brazilian racing legend Emerson Fittipaldi, is to contest the Formula 3 European Championship with Fortec Motorsport
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| By Marcus Simmons | Tuesday, February 24th 2015, 17:42 GMT |
BRDC Formula 4 Championship runner-up Arjun Maini has taken the final seat with Van Amersfoort Racing for this season's Formula 3 European Championship
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| By Mark Glendenning | Tuesday, February 24th 2015, 20:29 GMT |
Atlanta Motor Speedway will make additions to its barrier system for this weekend's NASCAR Sprint Cup race following Kyle Busch's heavy accident at Daytona last weekend
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| Wednesday, February 25th 2015, 01:11 GMT |
Gerard Ducarouge, the legendary Formula 1 designer who produced winning cars for Jackie Stewart and Ayrton Senna, has died. He was 73.
The Frenchman's career in motor racing began in the 1960s with Matra in junior categories, before he helped design the MS80 that Stewart used on the way to winning the 1969 F1 world championship. Ducarouge subsequently guided Matra to success at Le Mans in the following decade, as the marque took three straight 24 Hours wins from 1972-74.
Leaving Matra to join the new Ligier team, again proved his design genius as he helped guide the team to its maiden F1 win in the 1977 Swedish Grand Prix.
After being dropped by Ligier mid-season in 1979, and having a brief foray with Alfa Romeo, Ducarouge was snapped up by Lotus in mid-1983 for perhaps the most memorable spell of his career.
As the team was kept steady by Peter Warr following the death of Colin Chapman, Ducarouge was drafted in and again delivered all that was asked of him.
A push towards the front of the grid, helped by the arrival of Ayrton Senna as lead driver in 1985, produced some memorable race victories - including the Brazilian's famous maiden triumph at Estoril.
Another world championship title would elude him though and, as Lotus's fortunes faded in the 1990s, Ducarouge returned to France - first with Larrousse and then with Ligier, where he would remain until 1994.
Martin Brundle, who worked with Ducarouge in his final spell at Ligier, was one of the first to offer his condolences.
"That's sad, reading that F1 designer Gerard Ducarouge has died," he wrote on Twitter. "Worked with him at Ligier. Stylish, fun and clever man. RIP and condolences."
| By Hal Ridge | Monday, February 23rd 2015, 17:00 GMT |
American star Tanner Foust will compete at four rounds of the World Rallycross Championship this season, as part his diverse programme of events for 2015
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| By Mitchell Adam | Monday, February 23rd 2015, 16:26 GMT |
Renault Sport and five of the teams currently contesting the maiden FIA Formula E Championship are among the eight new manufacturers accredited to produce powertrains from 2015/2016
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| By Marcus Simmons | Monday, February 23rd 2015, 19:12 GMT |
Colombian Tatiana Calderon has taken the sixth and final full-time seat in Carlin's line-up for the Formula 3 European championship
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| By Scott Mitchell | Sunday, February 22nd 2015, 19:45 GMT |
New Sauber Formula 1 driver Felipe Nasr says the team had "too many" problems after missing almost the entire morning of the final day of the second pre-season test
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| By Matt Beer and Jonathan Noble | Sunday, February 22nd 2015, 19:32 GMT |
Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost believes the decision to restrict testing to Europe this year is hurting preparations for the new Formula 1 season
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| Sunday, February 22nd 2015, 22:20 GMT |
Joey Logano claimed his first Daytona 500 victory on Sunday, crossing the line to win under yellow flags after a multi-car crash on the back straight
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| By Matt Beer and Scott Mitchell | Saturday, February 21st 2015, 20:01 GMT |
Sebastian Vettel says Formula 1's move to ban helmet design changes may not be enough to deter him from tweaking his colours still
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| By David Evans | Saturday, February 21st 2015, 20:38 GMT |
Andreas Mikkelsen says missing out on his first World Rally Championship win in Sweden has fired him up more rather than hurting his confidence
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| By Glenn Freeman and Mark Glendenning | Saturday, February 21st 2015, 20:52 GMT |
NASCAR has rejected an appeal from Kurt Busch over his indefinite suspension due to the family court findings regarding his domestic abuse case
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| By Scott Mitchell and Jonathan Noble | Friday, February 20th 2015, 18:32 GMT |
Sergio Perez insists Force India is still gaining plenty from this week's Formula 1 test in Barcelona, despite only having its 2014 car
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| By Scott Mitchell and Lawrence Barretto | Friday, February 20th 2015, 19:01 GMT |
Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg says he is wary of the threat being by Ferrari based on its form so far in Formula 1 pre-season testing
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| By Ben Anderson | Friday, February 20th 2015, 19:59 GMT |
Fernando Alonso is unsure whether the McLaren-Honda Formula 1 team will be "completely ready" for the first race of 2015, because of reliability dramas that have blighted its pre-season testing
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| By Craig Scarborough | Wednesday, February 18th 2015, 18:52 GMT |
As we head into the second test of Formula 1's pre-season we shouldn't expect to see dramatic differences in car design or team performance but changes will be visible
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| Wednesday, February 18th 2015, 16:56 GMT |
Williams Formula 1 reserve driver Alex Lynn carried out a GP2 test session focused on the category's new DRS in Bahrain on Wednesday
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| By Gary Watkins | Wednesday, February 18th 2015, 21:00 GMT |
Audi factory driver Filipe Albuquerque will remain with the Jota Sport LMP2 team for an assault on this year's European Le Mans Series.
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| By Mark Glendenning | Tuesday, February 17th 2015, 17:42 GMT |
Ganassi development driver Sage Karam will drive the fourth Chip Ganassi Racing entry at next month's IndyCar season-opener in St Petersburg
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| By Mark Glendenning | Tuesday, February 17th 2015, 16:57 GMT |
Chevrolet has released the first images of the aero kit that it will use on road/street courses and short ovals in the upcoming IndyCar season
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| By Scott Mitchell | Tuesday, February 17th 2015, 20:00 GMT |
British Touring Car champion Colin Turkington and record race winner Jason Plato will race as team-mates in Team BMR Volkswagens in 2015.
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| By Gary Watkins | Monday, February 16th 2015, 16:31 GMT |
The Ecurie Ecosse team will return to the Blancpain Endurance Series in 2015 in a bid to improve on its third position in the Pro-Am class last year
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| By Mark Glendenning | Monday, February 16th 2015, 16:17 GMT |
James Jakes will return to IndyCar in 2015 after securing a deal to replace Mikhail Aleshin at Schmidt Peterson Motorsport
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| By Jonathan Noble | Monday, February 16th 2015, 18:14 GMT |
Formula 1's move towards a rules revolution faces a key vote on Tuesday that should decide whether major changes to car design can happen in time for 2016
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| By David Evans | Saturday, February 14th 2015, 16:48 GMT |
Volkswagen World Rally Championship team principal Jost Capito is seeking clarification from the Rally Sweden stewards regarding Sebastien Ogier's suspended penalty
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| Sunday, February 15th 2015, 03:28 GMT |
Matt Kenseth opened the 2015 NASCAR season with victory in a messy and twice red-flagged Sprint Unlimited at Daytona
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| Saturday, February 14th 2015, 21:12 GMT |
Ricky Stenhouse Jr and Michael McDowell led Daytona 500 practice on Saturday, while engine problems consigned 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup title contender Ryan Newman to the back for his heat
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| Friday, February 13th 2015, 18:52 GMT |
Andreas Mikkelsen will take a lead of 19.1 seconds into the second full day of Rally Sweden, while Sebastien Ogier took victory on Friday's closing superspecial stage
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| By Stuart Codling | Friday, February 13th 2015, 17:55 GMT |
Sebastien Loeb topped the times for Citroen during official World Touring Car Championship testing at Barcelona
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| By Jonathan Noble | Friday, February 13th 2015, 18:21 GMT |
Manor's hopes of making it onto the 2015 Formula 1 grid have been boosted by the FIA making clear it will keep the entry list open as long as possible
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| By Jonathan Noble | Thursday, February 12th 2015, 17:09 GMT |
Red Bull has dropped a firm hint that it may switch to a short Williams-style nose this season as Formula 1 teams continue to hunt for the best solution
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| By David Evans | Thursday, February 12th 2015, 17:38 GMT |
World Rally crews fear warm conditions could threaten some stages at this week's Rally Sweden
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| Thursday, February 12th 2015, 20:18 GMT |
World Rally Championship-2 driver Pontus Tidemand was the surprise pacesetter on Rally Sweden's curtain-raising superspecial stage on Thursday evening.
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| By Jonathan Noble | Wednesday, February 11th 2015, 17:45 GMT |
Renault has urged caution over Formula 1's push towards 1000bhp engines, amid fears that costs could rise dramatically
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| Wednesday, February 11th 2015, 15:31 GMT |
Mercedes says its new Formula 1 car is more radical than it appears from the outside
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| By Gary Watkins | Thursday, February 12th 2015, 02:02 GMT |
Nissan has promoted GT Academy winners Jann Mardenborough and Lucas Ordonez to race its radical new GT-R LM NISMO World Endurance Championship contender in 2015
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| By Scott Mitchell | Tuesday, February 10th 2015, 15:17 GMT |
The Circuit of Wales has contested Donington Park's claim it is unable to fund the British MotoGP round and promised the 2015 event is safe, with a Silverstone return expected
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| By David Evans | Tuesday, February 10th 2015, 15:55 GMT |
Jari-Matti Latvala has called on Rally Sweden organisers to do all they can to offer a level playing field on this week's second round of the World Rally Championship
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| By Mark Glendenning | Tuesday, February 10th 2015, 15:58 GMT |
Jeb Burton, son of 2002 Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton, will move up to the NASCAR Sprint Cup this year with BK Racing
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| By Gary Watkins | Monday, February 9th 2015, 14:35 GMT |
Conor Daly, Esteban Guerrieri and Sam Brabham are among those chosen to compete in a reality show to race in this year's Le Mans 24 Hours
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| Monday, February 9th 2015, 14:21 GMT |
Formula Renault 3.5 podium finisher Nicholas Latifi will race full-time in the series this year with Arden Motorsport.
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| By Jonathan Noble | Monday, February 9th 2015, 15:37 GMT |
Romain Grosjean has faith that Lotus has the infrastructure it needs to make the most of its move to Mercedes Formula 1 power this season.
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| By David Evans | Sunday, February 8th 2015, 15:59 GMT |
The International Rally of Valais will replace the Tour of Corsica as the 2015 European Rally Championship season finale after the Corsican event's return to the World Rally Championship
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| By Jonathan Noble and Matt Beer | Sunday, February 8th 2015, 13:04 GMT |
McLaren boss Ron Dennis says a mellowing of his character and greater maturity from Fernando Alonso has allowed them to work together in Formula 1 again after their 2007 fall-out
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| By Gerhard Kuntschik | Sunday, February 8th 2015, 11:33 GMT |
Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz believes Mercedes is set to dominate Formula 1 again this season based on indications from the first winter test at Jerez
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| Saturday, February 7th 2015, 16:49 GMT |
Matthieu Vaxiviere will stay on with the Charouz-run Lotus team in Formula Renault 3.5 for 2015, joined by series returnee Meindert van Buuren
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| By Jonathan Noble and Matt Beer | Saturday, February 7th 2015, 16:52 GMT |
Nico Rosberg says the under-threat German Grand Prix is a "legendary" part of Formula 1 and must not be lost from the calendar
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| By Mark Glendenning | Saturday, February 7th 2015, 18:26 GMT |
Jay Robinson-owned Premium Motorsports has purchased the assets of Tommy Baldwin Racing for the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup season
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| By Jonathan Noble | Friday, February 6th 2015, 13:50 GMT |
Formula 1 teams have given the green light for work to continue on introducing 1000bhp engines in 2017, with car and tyre changes under consideration as early as next year
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| By Gary Watkins | Friday, February 6th 2015, 15:35 GMT |
Former Mercedes Formula 1 test driver Sam Bird will race for the G-Drive Ligier LMP2 team in this year's World Endurance Championship
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| Friday, February 6th 2015, 18:17 GMT |
Marussia insists its bid to get back on the Formula 1 grid for 2015 is viable, and that it will satisfy all the required conditions to return
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| By Mark Glendenning | Thursday, February 5th 2015, 16:42 GMT |
Six-time V8 Supercar champion Jamie Whincup was bitten by a snake during a promotional event to announce his contract extension with the Triple Eight-run Red Bull Racing team on Wednesday
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| By Gary Watkins | Thursday, February 5th 2015, 18:09 GMT |
The World Endurance Championship has expanded beyond its stated grid maximum to 35 cars for 2015
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| Thursday, February 5th 2015, 20:44 GMT |
Marussia's attempted return to the Formula 1 grid has suffered a blow after the Strategy Group rejected the team's request to run its 2014 car this season
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| By Mark Glendenning | Wednesday, February 4th 2015, 17:20 GMT |
Luca Filippi says he is feeling increasingly encouraged about his 2015 IndyCar campaign with CFH Racing after testing with the team for the first time on Tuesday
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| By Edd Straw and Jamie Klein | Wednesday, February 4th 2015, 17:28 GMT |
Lewis Hamilton admitted he was to blame for the spin that interrupted Mercedes' test programme on the final day of the first pre-season Formula 1 test at Jerez
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| By Ben Anderson and Matt Beer | Wednesday, February 4th 2015, 18:25 GMT |
Sauber has not been doing low-fuel 'glory runs' in a bid to chase Jerez Formula 1 testing headlines, insists Marcus Ericsson
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| By Jonathan Noble | Tuesday, February 3rd 2015, 19:49 GMT |
Renault has revealed that its Formula 1 testing efforts at Jerez have been hurt by reliability worries over what it calls a "stupid part" on its engine
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| By Ben Anderson | Tuesday, February 3rd 2015, 19:14 GMT |
Felipe Nasr reckons his Mercedes-powered Formula 1 rivals were "hiding" some performance, after his Sauber-Ferrari ended up topping the third day of pre-season testing at Jerez
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| By Dieter Rencken and Jonathan Noble | Tuesday, February 3rd 2015, 20:48 GMT |
Force India's new Formula 1 car is now unlikely to run until the final Barcelona test later this month, AUTOSPORT has learned
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| By Jonathan Noble and Matt Beer | Monday, February 2nd 2015, 18:16 GMT |
Daniil Kvyat said it was a tiny mistake that left Red Bull running an entire Jerez test day without a front wing on its 2015 Formula 1 car on Monday
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| By Ben Anderson and Andrew van Leeuwen | Monday, February 2nd 2015, 18:12 GMT |
Pastor Maldonado says the Lotus E23 is a completely different car compared to its troubled predecessor, following the 2015 machine's first day of testing
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| By Jonathan Noble | Monday, February 2nd 2015, 18:31 GMT |
Jenson Button insists there is no alarm at McLaren's troubled start to Formula 1 testing with Honda, claiming it made a late breakthrough with its reliability dramas on Monday
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| By Ben Anderson | Saturday, January 31st 2015, 18:20 GMT |
Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost reckons finishing fifth in the Formula 1 constructors' championship is a realistic target for the 2015 season, because of aggressive developments over the winter.
The Faenza-based squad finished a distant seventh in the 2014 title race, a massive 125 points adrift of sixth-placed F1 rival Force India.
STR would need to defeat at least one of the four 'works' teams (Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren) or Williams to achieve its target, but Tost insisted ahead of Sunday's first pre-season test at Jerez that his team could do it.
Toro Rosso launches its 2015 car
"The target is clearly to finish fifth in the constructors' championship, which means the drivers must be permanently in the points," Tost said.
"The team is getting better and better - we are building up quite a big infrastructure in Faenza.
"In the last two or three years we've [also] built up a strong technical team under James [Key] and this year we will make a big jump forward.
"[With] the package we've got from the car side, the driver side and the financial side, we simply must be in a position for fifth in the championship. I am convinced we can achieve it."
2014 BETTER THAN IT LOOKED
Technical director James Key said Toro Rosso had been much closer to McLaren and Force India with last year's STR9 than the points table suggested.
He reckons this makes the target of fifth in the 2015 title race more realistic than might otherwise be expected.
"Last year we were distant in points but we weren't that distant in performance - we just didn't make the most of it," he said.
"If you look at McLaren and Force India, a lot of the year we qualified with them or ahead of them; we simply didn't make it work in the race, whether through reliability issues, a bit of bad luck, an accident, or something else.
"When you calculate the number of points we genuinely missed, the total is massive. It wouldn't have got us fifth place if you add them up, but it would have got us a hell of a lot closer than the 30 we got."
Key conceded Tost's target was ambitious, but said it would be good for the team to aim high.
"There is nothing wrong with having a bit of ambition; we don't want to be seventh," he added.
"There are no guarantees but you have to set yourself high targets.
"When you think about that sort of target of course you recognise you have to compete against teams that have won world championships in the past.
"Toro Rosso hasn't won a championship, so we have to build up to that."
| By Jonathan Noble | Saturday, January 31st 2015, 17:59 GMT |
Red Bull is on course to get its new RB11 Formula 1 car out for the first day of pre-season testing at Jerez after successfully passing all its crash tests.
Team principal Christian Horner revealed earlier this week that the Milton Keynes-based squad had elected to keep open the design of its new car for as long as possible in a bid to maximise its development time.
Horner said: "It's probably the shortest production and assembly in our previous 10 seasons.
Newey not expecting 2015 title challenge
"It is unbelievable what the factory have turned around so far. But still there is plenty to do before Sunday."
As well as the short build time, the decision to lock down the design late meant the crunch crash tests that need to be passed to be allowed to run on track would also be left until the last minute.
Any major problem in the crash test that forced a redesign could leave Red Bull sitting on the sidelines during early testing until modifications were made.
But a team spokesperson confirmed to AUTOSPORT on Saturday that the team had now successfully completed all the tests and had been given the all clear to run at Jerez.
Follow pre-season F1 testing as it happens with AUTOSPORT Live from 7.45am UK time on Sunday morning
| By Jonathan Noble | Saturday, January 31st 2015, 18:40 GMT |
Renault's Formula 1 teams have faith that the French car manufacturer is well set to escape the testing nightmares that it suffered 12 months ago.
At Jerez last year, Renault suffered a hugely disappointing first outing for its new turbo V6 engine, with it being troubled by both poor reliability and a lack of performance.
But after a refocus of Renault's F1 efforts and a overhaul of its power unit this winter, Red Bull and Toro Rosso chitefs say all indications are that the manufacturer is on course to enjoy a much better pre-season.
Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost said on Saturday: "Renault has done a step forward, this is without any doubt.
"But to do a step forward is one thing: it now depends on what step forwards Mercedes has made.
"But I am quite positive about the work from Renault - because on Wednesday we were the first team out on track, during a filming day, and we did 96km without any problems.
"This was a big step forward and I hope we can do a good test here. We trust in the work of Renault and the rest we will see."
Toro Rosso technical director James Key added: "They [Renault] are certainly in much better shape now than they were last year.
"They went through a tough time last year but they have recovered extremely well, so we will see what we can do."
Red Bull chief designer Rob Marshall also believes that his team will have a calmer time during the build-up to the campaign - having endured a spate of reliability dramas this time last year.
"I'm hoping for a much more ordered pre-season," he said. "There should be less drama.
"The engine's much more known to us, so unless there's some big drama around the corner, I hope we'll have a more sensible time."
