Ferrari using STR to test engines - report

Toro Rosso is being used by Ferrari as a sort of Formula One 'B-team', according to a report in the German press.

Auto Motor und Sport magazine claims the Faenza based team has been asked all season to use progressively ageing engines throughout the three hours of free practice on Fridays.

It is suggested that Ferrari, the supplier of customer engines to the Red Bull sister team, is using the arrangement to test the longevity of its 2.4 litre V8s.

The problem for Toro Rosso, however, is that the engines used in Turkey by Sebastien Bourdais and Sebastien Buemi were each six Fridays old, and therefore 15kmh slower than the majority of the rest of the field.

This meant that, on Saturday with fresher engines fitted, the drivers encountered vastly different motor cars, whose Friday set up work was largely irrelevant.

Auto Motor und Sport said STR's Friday engines had 2,500 kilometres on the odometer.

"After 1400 kilometres, the power diminishes dramatically," team boss Franz Tost is quoted as saying.