Toro Rosso wants same engine spec as Ferrari in 2017

Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost has made it clear that the Red Bull junior outfit wants to secure the same specification of Ferrari power unit as the Maranello works outfit for the 2017 F1 season.

The Faenza-based squad was running Renault engines last year but Red Bull’s spectacular fallout with the French manufacturer left both its F1 teams without any power supply.

While Milton Keynes managed to hatch a deal to continue using current-spec Renault engines, Toro Rosso hurriedly secured an agreement to run late-2015 Ferrari units.

Now that his team is no longer in a hard-pressed situation, Tost believes a better deal can be worked out for next year.

“We have to get the same specification [as Ferrari],” the Austrian told Autosport.

“Because of last year's late decision, we were in the corner and we had to take what was offered to us.

“This year, we're in different situation. We want the same spec next year.”

Despite its older engine and a few missed opportunities, Toro Rosso has been able to secure strong results so far this season and currently has more points than fellow Ferrari-powered teams Haas and Sauber, which both use Maranello's latest engine spec.

“We're quite happy with the performance of the engine,” Tost added.

“From the performance side, Ferrari provides us with good material.”

Under the current regulations, Toro Rosso can not develop its power unit this year, while Ferrari already spent three tokens ahead of the Russian Grand Prix in order to improve its engine. Both Haas and Sauber started running the upgrade at the last championship round in Spain.

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