From GMM

Italian Formula 1 team Scuderia Toro Rosso will continue to use Ferrari's customer engines, team principal Franz Tost confirmed on Tuesday.


With the Faenza based team's STR3 chassis performing so well at present, and the senior Red Bull team comparatively struggle despite using a nearly identical car, it had been rumoured that Renault-powered Red Bull Racing might attempt to take over STR's Ferrari contract.

Takuma Sato's forthcoming test, meanwhile, stirred speculation that Toro Rosso might be flirting with Honda.

In a statement, Tost confirmed that Ferrari's 2.4-litre, V8 is one element to the team's strong showings of late.

"We are very happy with our arrangement with Maranello, which indeed is why we have recently extended our supply agreement with them," the Austrian said.

Tost also said the team is happy with its current driver lineup, including Sebastien Bourdais, whose future on the grid is yet to be determined.

"We are happy with both of them," he said, referring also to Sebastian Vettel, who graduates to Red Bull in 2009.

"As for Bourdais, after a difficult period, he too has stepped up a gear in the past few weeks, as could be seen from the fact that, until the very last lap in Belgium, he had out-performed his teammate," Tost added.


Photo Credit : René Fagnan - Auto123.com