Scuderia Toro Rosso has enforced a 24-hour, seven-days a week shift at its factory in order to make sure that its 2016 Formula One car is ready before the first day of pre-season testing in February.

We’ve obviously seen what happens when teams show up for pre-season testing with an unfinished product and how they can sometime struggle throughout the year.

In Toro Rosso’s case, the main issue was the fact they had to wait for Red Bull to announce their TAG Heuer-badged Renault engines, before they could confirm their own 2015-spec Ferrari units.

The delay has now forced team principal Franz Tost to impose a three-shift work plan at the factory.

“We re-planned the manufacturing processes and decided to go for a three-shift, across seven days, 24 hours to be ready for the first test”, said Tost. “From Toro Rosso’s side, we can organize everything in the best possible way. Our main problem is other suppliers and their Christmas holidays. Most of them are closed for a minimum of 10 days and this will make it tough for us.”

The team wants their 2016 car to be able to challenge near the front of the field, which means attacking the likes of Force India and Williams, and though it’s old-spec, the Ferrari engine could prove a useful asset.

The thing about that 2015 unit is that it should still provide them with more power even compared to next year’s Renault unit (something the team actually anticipates). Thus, if the aerodynamics of the new car are spot-on, its main rivals may be in for a surprise.

“We’ve never had to enforce a 24-hour a day shift pattern for this long before”, added Tost. “In February, the last days before you finish the car, you sometimes have those days but it’s maybe normal for only one or two days. We will have this system in place now for December, January and half of February, so two and a half months. We have brought in a high number of contractors just for this short period to do this.”

Its two young drivers certainly deserve a car worthy of their skills. On the other hand, its progress will be measured against that of the rest of the teams. In F1, everyone is optimistic during the winter. Once the championship starts, we’ll see the true outcome of their hard work.

Story references: autosport

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