Toro Rosso to start 2008 with old car

(GMM) Toro Rosso will begin the 2008 season with the year-old 'STR2' single seater.

The Faenza based outfit's team principal Franz Tost revealed that the old car, practically identical to parent team Red Bull Racing's RB3, will be used by Toro Rosso for at least "the first four races" of 2008.

He said the policy is partly to ensure better reliability next season, because if the "new car has problems, then we have time to react".

Also to the Austrian newspaper Tiroler Tageszeitung, Tost seemed to confirm speculation that "talks" are ongoing between Red Bull and double world champion Fernando Alonso.

"The fact is that Alonso is still without a fixed contract, and for each team he is of great interest.

"As far as I know, there are talks between Red Bull and Alonso," Tost added.

However, he played down rumors that David Coulthard could be slotted into a Toro Rosso seat next year to make room at the senior team for the Spaniard.

"We have contracts with Vettel and Bourdais," he said. "That is the facts, and everything else is conjecture."