Tost: STR won't be hurt by full constructor's status

Tuesday 10th November 2009

Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost is confident that the team's first self-constructed Formula One car will not result in a drop in performance.

As of next season, customers cars are no longer allowed in the sport, meaning Toro Rosso will not be able to rely on senior Red Bull for their 2010 chassis.

"We have to design the car by ourselves, we have to build the car as well and the infrastructure still needs to be improved. This will take time," Tost told Autosport.

"We just have to wait and see. I can only hope that the experience of the designers is good enough and they will do a good job.

"Top teams have sometimes brought out a not fantastic car. I hope that we as a small team can do a good job and bring a car to the racetrack that can achieve good positions from the beginning."

Tost, though, was quick to point out that Toro Rosso have not had to start completely from scratch as the team has designers on the payroll.

"Fortunately we always kept some designers, and therefore we didn't need to start from zero," he said.

"But it's not easy to bring in the correct people with the skills and who will work together well. We have to see how everything will come out during the winter time.

"So far, as far as I can see, they're doing a good job. But we will see when the car is out on the track and we know the lap times.

"The regulation forces us to design a completely new car because as you know there is no more refueling during the races next year.

"That means that the fuel tank is much larger, and that means the complete design philosophy of the car has to be changed. You have a new different weight distribution, and all of this affects us and forces us into designing a completely new car.

"From the financial point is view it would be good if they find some carry-over parts, and also on the performance side as the [2009] car looks quite fast. Unfortunately as far as I can see up to now, there are not so many carry-over parts."

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