Often controversial Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko has given a frank reason behind the company's decision to ditch both of Toro Rosso's drivers for next year, saying that neither proved to him they had race-winning potential.
The Red Bull junior squad will have a complete overhaul of personnel for next season, with Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne joining the squad.
That move has left both Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari without a drive for 2011, a move that has surprised many observers.
Buemi has recently signed up as the new Red Bull reserve, but Alguersuari looks likely to drop out of F1 for 2012 entirely.
But Marko defended the team's decision, saying that the team had dropped both Buemi and Alguersuari because they had not shown the hallmarks of being race winners.
"Toro Rosso was created to give young drivers a chance," he bellowed at the Italian Gazzetta dello Sport publication this week.
"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."
In recent years, the Toro Rosso team has taken on more autonomy, designing its own chassis since 2012.
However, with Red Bull still calling the shots on the team's drivers, Marko said that he was not expecting the team to get too much more independent in the future.
"It will certainly remain an Italian team based in Faenza, oriented towards young drivers," he mused regarding the team's future.
"But Toro Rosso will have to keep developing more and more autonomously."
He added: "The [Ferrari engine] contract is on for 2012; at the moment I can't say what will happen in the future, but up to now we are very satisfied with this co-operation."
Red Bull created the Toro Rosso squad for the 2006 season, after taking over the Minardi team.
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