THE HIDDEN HERO BEHIND ALONSO’S ENSTONE GLORY YEARS
The nature of modern Formula 1 is such that cars are designed by committee, which means it’s near-impossible to single out the efforts of one person for any resultant success. But if it’s too simplistic to lay credit at the feet of one individual, equally it would be fatuous to suggest that individuals can’t make a difference, for they can lift the team around them to greater heights and push the collective effort forward in a positive direction. Such hidden heroes are common in racing, but few can live up to the story of Renault’s former head of aerodynamics Dino Toso.
In the four years that followed his diagnosis with lung cancer in 2004, Toso contributed to 17 grand prix victories (14 for Fernando Alonso, two for Giancarlo Fisichella, one for Jarno Trulli) and two world championship doubles with Alonso, leading by example until his retirement just two months before his death at the age of 39 in August 2008. Never losing hope that he could beat the cancer, he endeavoured to take his rounds of chemotherapy at weekends so they wouldn’t impinge on the working week, and signed up for every trial available to him. But despite the physical transformation the steroids inflicted upon his body as this committed cyclist gained weight and lost his hair, Toso’s good humour and team spirit never diminished. Thirteen years on, he remains a widely admired figure that his Enstone family remember fondly.
“It’s very easy when people are no longer with us to remember all
