Toro Rosso aims to lead F1's midfield

Toro Rosso is aiming to be the 'best of the rest' in 2017 and head of pack of Formula One midfield teams.

But team principal Franz Tost is realistic about their chances of catching up to the Big Three on the grid: Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari.

"We don't know how much fuel all the other teams are running,"said Tost. "But I am optimistic that Toro Rosso will be in the front part of this midfield."

He was speaking after the first pre-season test was completed at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The team suffered a setback with engine and drivetrain issues that cost them running time during the week.

"This week about our car: it looks good, it looks fast, and the drivers are doing a good job," Tost summarised. "If we get everything under control from the technical side, I am convinced we can achieve our goal."

Tech F1i: A closer look at the Toro Rosso STR12

Toro Rosso technical director James Key echoed Tost's comments when asked who he felt would be the team's biggest challengers this season.

"I think Haas looks quite reasonable," Key said. "We have to see how that develops next week and into Melbourne, but they have done a good job.

"Renault - it could be tight with them, we have to see, we have to see. They look on balance more competitive than they did last year."

Key said it was too soon to tell how Sauber and especially McLaren would fare this season.

"I guess McLaren, like us, have had the dramas this week," he said. "Clearly they haven't put in a full programme at this stage so I don't think it is easy to comment, but I am sure everyone is very fast."

GALLERY: F1 drivers' wives and girlfriends

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.