Toro Rosso to rebrand Renault engine (Update)

Franz Tost

UPDATE (GMM) Toro Rosso is in talks about selling the naming rights of the team's engine supplier for 2017.

When the FIA published the provisional 2017 entry list recently, the name of Toro Rosso's engine was listed as 'TBC' (to be confirmed).

That is despite the fact that the Faenza based team has done a deal with Renault for the supply of customer engines next year.

Toro Rosso's owner, Red Bull, fell out badly with Renault at the end of 2015, leading to a customer engine deal last year with the French-made units re-badged as 'Tag Heuer'.

A similar deal for Toro Rosso is now in the works, boss Franz Tost admitted.

"We have the opportunity to find a title sponsor, as Red Bull did with Tag Heuer," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "We are in negotiations."

Tost also said the team's other preparations for 2017 are on track.

"We have passed the crash test and will be doing a filming day before the tests begin," he said, referring to the 2017 car. "We are on schedule."

12/28/16 Toro Rosso is holding talks with a sponsor with regards rebranding its Renault Formula 1 engine for 2017.

The Italian team ran year-old Ferrari power units during the 2016 F1 campaign but agreed in May to revert to Renault power from next season.

As part of the Renault deal, Toro Rosso receives the latest specification engine as well as having the opportunity to badge the unit as it wishes.
Its sister team Red Bull runs Renault power, but rebrands them under the TAG Heuer banner.

Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost says his outfit is looking to follow suit.

"We have the chance of finding a title sponsor, like Red Bull has done with TAG Heuer," Tost told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"We are negotiating."

Toro Rosso finished seventh in the standings in 2016, seven points adrift of McLaren, 75 behind Williams and 110 off the pace of Force India.

Next term, the team is aiming to get ahead of Mercedes-powered rivals Williams and Force India and make an improvement of two places to fifth place.

Tost says the team is on schedule to have its car ready for pre-season testing, which starts at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya circuit on February 27.

"We are on schedule with the car," said Tost.

"We have passed the crash test and we will do a filming day before testing starts." Lawrence Barretto/Autosport