Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsToro Rosso

Renault and Honda will get 'much closer' - Tost

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Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost says Renault and Honda will get "much closer" to Ferrari and Mercedes in 2016.

Mercedes has had the dominant power unit since the introduction of new regulations at the start of 2014, but Ferrari made a big step forward to close the gap this season. With Renault and Honda struggling, Tost says he expects to see both making clear progress next year otherwise the FIA will have to take action.

“I expect them to be much closer next year,” Tost told the official Formula One website. “I am convinced that they have the resource and know-how to close the gap.

“If not then the FIA has to look into the [engine development] token story so that everybody who is behind gets extra development freedom until we have parity. But as I just said, I am sure that those behind will catch up, at the latest by 2017.”

However, while Tost has confidence in current power unit supplier Renault, he says it is most likely Toro Rosso will run with Ferrari power next season.

“If you take into consideration that we have paid a lot of money [to Renault] and didn’t see progress as we had expected, then there must be the question of why not go back to Ferrari - a partner we know and who also makes sense logistically."

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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.