Ex-Manor F1 boss John Booth joins Toro Rosso

Scuderia Toro Rosso has announced John Booth has joined its F1 team as a consultant in the role of 'Director of Racing'.

The 61 year-old is one of the founding members of the Manor Racing team, which competed in junior categories for almost two decades before progressing to F1 in 2010 under the Virgin Racing banner, which became Marussia and then back to Manor in 2015.

Having exited the team at the end of the 2015 season as an indirect consequence of having sold Manor F1 to get it out of administration a year earlier, Booth and Graeme Lowdon 'reformed' Manor as a sportscar team, making its World Endurance Championship debut at Silverstone.

However, from the fourth round of the season, the Russian Grand Prix, Booth will start work in Toro Rosso colours as a Director of Racing, a role he is delighted to be approached for.

"It is a great honour to join such a well-established and competitive team as Scuderia Toro Rosso" he said. "It is a team that has achieved so much in a relatively short space of time. I am looking forward to getting started and working with Franz and the team this weekend in Sochi."

A hugely experienced member of the motorsport fraternity, Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost is happy to welcome Booth on board.

"I have known John for many years and I am delighted to welcome him to the team. Formula 1 is becoming ever more complex, with recent changes on the tyre front, car set-up, radio communications and so forth. Therefore, having a competitive car and talented drivers, both of which we have, on its own is not enough. With his vast experience I am sure John will help the team raise its game and become a more effective force over a race weekend."