Scuderia Toro Rosso STR13

In September 2017, McLaren Honda announced they were terminating their partnership with effect from the close of the 2017 season. During negotiations to secure a new supplier, Renault disclosed that they did not have the capacity to supply McLaren whilst meeting their commitments to customer teams Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso. As part of a discussion between Renault, McLaren, Toro Rosso and Red Bull, Toro Rosso announced it would end their customer relationship with Renault and instead form a factory works partnership with Honda in a deal lasting through to 2021.{{cite web|url=http://www.scuderiatororosso.com/en_INT/article/scuderia-toro-rosso-join-forces-honda|title=Scuderia Toro Rosso to join forces with Honda|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915232349/http://www.scuderiatororosso.com/en_INT/article/scuderia-toro-rosso-join-forces-honda|work=scuderiatororosso.com|publisher=Scuderia Toro Rosso|date=15 September 2017|archive-date=15 September 2017|url-status=dead}}

File:Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso STR13 Barcelona testing.jpg

In a departure from the last three seasons with McLaren, at pre-season testing in Barcelona, Honda showed significant progress with its power unit completing the second highest lap tally of 93 in the first day without any issue with Brendon Hartley at the helm.{{Cite news|url=https://www.eurosport.com/formula-1/honda-reliability-perfect-on-toro-rosso-debut_sto6656865/story.shtml|work=Autosport|via=Eurosport|date=27 February 2018|access-date=4 June 2023|title=HONDA RELIABILITY 'PERFECT' ON TORO ROSSO DEBUT}} The second day of testing went just as well, with STR completing 82 laps, the third highest tally again with no issue, this time with Pierre Gasly in the driver's seat.{{Cite news|url=https://www.crash.net/f1/news/890245/1/gasly-2018-toro-rosso-f1-car-more-consistent|date=28 February 2018|access-date=4 June 2023|last=Smith|first=Luke|work=Crash.net|title=Pierre Gasly: 2018 Toro Rosso F1 car 'more consistent'}} At the close of the first test, Toro Rosso topped the total mileage charts finishing off with Pierre Gasly completing 147 laps on the final day, this showed that Honda with Toro Rosso, had completed more laps in week one than Honda had completed with McLaren in the entire test fortnight in 2017.{{Cite news|url=https://www.eurosport.com/formula-1/motor-racing-hamilton-fastest-as-f1-wraps-up-first-test-of-2018_sto6659558/story.shtml|access-date=4 June 2023|date=2 March 2018|title=MOTOR RACING-HAMILTON FASTEST AS F1 WRAPS UP FIRST TEST OF 2018|work=Reuters|via=Eurosport|location=Barcelona}} Following the close of testing, Hartley claimed the Honda PU was easier to drive and felt more powerful than the units supplied by Renault at the end of last season.{{Cite news|url=https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-testing-honda-reliability-perfect-on-toro-rosso-debut-hartley-5322857/5322857/|title=F1 testing: Honda reliability 'perfect' on Toro Rosso debut - Hartley|date=27 February 2018|access-date=11 October 2024|work=Autosport|last2=Cleeren|first2=Philip|last=Kaprov|first1=Oleg}}

Following a PU failure in Gasly's car during the {{F1 GP|2018|Australian}} following a hit from a curb, Honda revealed he had suffered from an MGU-H failure, an issue which was well known to be Honda's Achilles heel for the last few years.{{Cite news|url=https://us.motorsport.com/f1/news/honda-big-plan-proper-engines-gasly-1020772/1399291/|work=Motorsport.com|last=Anderson|first=Ben|last2=Cooper|first2=Adam|title=Honda has "big plan" to prove its F1 engine is "proper"|date=1 April 2018|access-date=4 June 2023}} Honda responded with a fix to the issue making note that both drivers were still using the flawed 2017 MGU-H as the brand new system they had developed for the 2018 power unit was not going to be ready in time for the first round.{{Cite news|url=https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/red-bull-extra-50bhp-horner/4306567/|date=30 November 2018|access-date=4 June 2023|title=Red Bull: Extra 50bhp could've changed 2018 season|work=Motorsport.com|last=Mitchell|first=Scott}} In Bahrain, both drivers took the new MGU-H specification, however Gasly required an entire new PU due to collateral damage caused from the MGU-H failure in Australia.{{Cite news|url=https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.toro-rosso-get-updated-honda-parts-for-bahrain.7zIApuoZk4IKssWIcIaASc.html|work=Formula 1|date=5 April 2018|access-date=4 June 2023|title=Toro Rosso get updated Honda parts for Bahrain}}

After making significant progress with the PU mapping during the practice sessions at Bahrain, Pierre Gasly managed a 6th place during qualifying which he was able to turn into a 4th-place result during the race. This was the highest finishing position for Honda since returning to F1 in 2015.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/43683493|last=Benson|first=Andrew|work=BBC Sport|title=Bahrain GP: Sebastian Vettel wins, Lewis Hamilton third after fine overtake|date=8 April 2018|access-date=4 June 2023|location=Bahrain}}

At the Canadian Grand Prix, Honda debuted its Spec 2 PU which they revealed was focused on developments to the ICE with the aim of improving power without compromising reliability, it is believed the area of improvement was around the cylinder head, specifically the combustion chamber design.{{Cite news|url=https://www.eurosport.com/formula-1/canadian-grand-prix/2018/honda-reveals-engine-upgrade-for-canadian-gp_sto6794407/story.shtml|title=Honda Reveals Engine Upgrade for Canadian GP|date=6 June 2018|access-date=4 June 2023|work=Autosport|via=Eurosport}} The update was praised by driver Gasly who noted it was immediately more driveable and punchier than the previous iteration. Comparisons in lap times during practice between the previous unit and the updated unit were showing a near 0.5-second improvement at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Honda claimed the unit should only improve with further analysis and adjustments made to the mapping as the season progresses, however after an initially strong debut for the upgrade, reliability issues appeared on Pierre Gasly's PU which Honda remarked seemed to be isolated issues not related to the upgrade and would investigate further.{{Cite news|url=https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/pierre-gasly-honda-f1-upgrade-worth-three-places-in-canadian-gp-5296047/5296047/|title=Pierre Gasly: Honda F1 upgrade worth three places in Canadian GP|work=Autosport|date=11 June 2018|access-date=4 June 2023 |last=Karpov|first=Oleg|first2=Valentin|last2=Khorounzhiy}}

After several lacklustre performances at a variety of track layouts, Toro Rosso said they were trying to figure out their entire package with correlation issues on the aero updates and even Honda's upgraded unit and what its actual potential could be as it seemed to run reliably but was sensitive to conditions and track layout. Red Bull's race director Christian Horner, who announced that Red Bull Racing had signed a 2-year engine supply deal with Honda starting from 2019 to replace Renault, citing Honda's enormous improvement in Canada showing great potential in their development pace, claimed the Honda and Renault PU were within 1% of each other in race trim.{{Cite press release|url=https://www.redbull.com/int-en/red-bull-racing-honda-anouncement|title=Red Bull Racing switch to Honda from 2019|date=19 June 2018|access-date=4 June 2023|work=Red Bull|last=Douglas|first=Will}}

Honda's F1 Technical Director, Toyoharu Tanabe, made mention that Honda's PU upgrade plan for 2018 was on track and going well and that with the introduction of Spec 2 in Canada and its subsequent improvements in the following races they were focused sharply on the Spec 3 upgrade which has since been revealed to be a brand new combustion process in which Honda plans to patent (further details Honda refuses to divulge), a redesigned MGU-K and battery, with a tentative debut around the {{F1 GP|2018|Russian}}.{{Cite news|url=https://www.crash.net/f1/news/906219/1/honda-introduces-latest-f1-engine-str-drivers-set-penalties|title=Honda introduces latest F1 engine, STR drivers set for penalties|date=27 September 2018|access-date=11 October 2024|work=Crash.net|last=Larkam|first=Lewis}}

After showing promising pace amongst the midfield with strong finishes at both the Belgian and the Hungarian Grand Prix, while also demonstrating relative strength at power sensitive circuits such as Spa and Monza Circuit where the team believed they may struggle, following the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, German publication Auto Motor und Sport released a report claiming they had calculated an estimate for the power figures of each manufacturer using the latest GPS data gathered from Monza. The data revealed Honda's Spec 2 PU, which debuted in Canada, to produce 715 hp without electrical assistance, which put it ahead of Renault's Spec B used by the Renault works team and McLaren, however behind by a margin of 15 hp to Renault's newly introduced Spec C PU (Italian GP) which is only utilised by Red Bull Racing.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}} However AMuS also reported that Honda had made great strides with the development of their Spec 3 PU with initial tests suggesting a power output of around 750 hp and that it may be ready for introduction at the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi, two race weekends earlier than planned.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

File:Pierre Gasly 2018 Italian GP.jpg

At the Russian Grand Prix, Honda debuted their much-anticipated Spec 3 PU in the practice sessions. Initial comments from the drivers were highly promising, both describing a noticeable jump in outright power. As the practice sessions progressed, Honda kept improving the mapping, finding more power each outing. Towards the end, the drivers noted that there were some fairly prominent vibrations on upshift with the new unit and despite the power increase, was disconcerting to continue driving it. Post-practice, Honda told media representatives the engine had provided more power than originally expected so early on; however this had a knock-on effect when paired to the STR gearbox in the car. Honda then opted to revert to the Spec 2 units for the rest of the weekend while engineers from Toro Rosso and Honda made further refinements to the Spec 3 at Milton Keynes in order to have the engine competition ready by next round in Japan (Honda's home race).{{Cite news|url=https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/toro-rosso-reverts-to-older-spec-honda-for-rest-of-russian-gp/3185496/|title=Toro Rosso revertts to older-spec Honda for the rest of Russian GP|date=29 September 2018|access-date=11 October 2024|work=Motorsport.com|last=Mitchell|first=Scott}}

At the {{F1 GP|2018|Japanese}}, STR made the competitive debut with the brand new Spec 3 unit. Honda claimed to of made even further improvements since the last GP after spending much of the time between refining the unit on the dyno. The results on track reflected the claims, with qualifying proving to be one of Honda's best results since returning to F1, both cars making it to Q3 to place 6th and 7th respectively.{{Cite news|url=https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.qualifying-hamilton-on-pole-at-rain-hit-suzuka-as-vettel-ends-up-p9.3wT5dERozuuGI4qGuUyIuG.html|title=QUALIFYING: Hamilton on pole at rain-hit Suzuka as Vettel ends up P9|date=6 October 2018|access-date=4 June 2023|work=Formula 1}}

Toro Rosso finished ninth in the Constructors' Championship, scoring just 33 points throughout the whole season - the team's worst season since 2012.{{Cite web|url=https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2018/team.html|access-date=4 June 2023|title=2018 Constructor Standings|work=Formula One}}

In January 2018, the team announced that their Head of Aerodynamics, Brendon Gilhorne, would be leaving the team.{{cite web|url=https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/133923/toro-rosso-splits-with-its-head-of-aero|title=Toro Rosso Formula 1 team splits with its head of aerodynamics|first=Jonathan|last=Noble|website=autosport.com|access-date=21 January 2018}}

Much like with its predecessor, the STR13 sported a similar blue livery with red accents across the side of the car.

At the United States Grand Prix, the team was sponsored by the fast food chain restaurant KFC, later the team was trolled as Pollo Rosso ("Red Chicken") on Twitter.{{cite web |url=https://thesportsrush.com/toro-rosso-get-kfc-on-board-mercedes-troll-them-on-twitter/ |title=Toro Rosso get KFC on board, Mercedes troll them on Twitter |website=thesportsrush.com |first=Utkarsh |last=Bhatla |date=19 October 2018}}

In 2020, Yuki Tsunoda test drove the STR13 in AlphaTauri AT01 livery at the Imola Circuit, prior to his debut with the team.

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

{{smallsup|†}} Driver failed to finish the race, but was classified as they had completed over 90% of the winner's race distance.

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Category:Toro Rosso Formula One cars

Category:2018 Formula One season cars