Toro Rosso and Red Bull eye closer ties for 2018

The Faenza-based outfit's switch back to Renault engines for next year means it once again has the same powerplant as Red Bull, which will allow it to theoretically share a great deal of the rear end of the car.

Toro Rosso's technical director James Key said on Friday that too many unknowns with next year's rules meant a close partnership – similar to that which Haas enjoys with Ferrari – was unlikely to work for 2017, but was being evaluated for the following year.

"There are several areas nowadays where it's acceptable to run the same part or for one team to design a bit and allow the other team to use it and so on, predominantly on power unit-related topics, but it also stretches to gearbox and suspension as well," he said in an interview on his team's website.

"That's all good. It means we can pool our resources a bit more and have better synergies in those areas and certainly, both teams are looking to see what opportunities there are.

"The problem with new regulations of course is you've got nothing to discuss because you've got to go through the whole design process. In 2017 therefore, there will not be that many opportunities for synergies.

"In the second year of these regs, once you've got bits that work within that set of regulations, then it opens up many more, so 2018 will be a better opportunity. Having said that, having the same engine helps. It draws together a huge amount of commonality in certain areas on the power train side."

Work since 2015

Key has also revealed that work on Toro Rosso's 2017 challenger, the STR12, began as long ago as September 2015 – even though the rules had not been set in stone at that point.

"Basically, we had an outline set of regulations, which in the end underwent subtle changes before being finalised," he said.

"It wasn't a massive change but in the end, the sport went with a slightly less aggressive set of regulations, which were agreed on around March-April time this year. That meant no one could steal a massive march on it because the regulations were still under review at that point.

"We knew the tyres would be wider and we had dimensions then of what we were going to work to. These also got refined, but not to a huge degree. We started work conceptually on this around September 2015, really just to see what it meant and then as the regs evolved, we changed our plans accordingly. By the time the car hits the track, it will have been a 17-month project."

Toro Rosso's first chassis are already in production, with work then focusing on impact structures prior to crash testing and track running next February.