F1: Toro Rosso hopes to rebadge power unit

Toro Rosso is set to follow Red Bull's lead by securing a sponsorship deal to re-badge its Renault power unit in 2017.

Red Bull ran Renault power units branded as Tag Heuer in 2016 following a breakdown in the relationship between the team and the engine supplier a year before. During the last year, Toro Rosso was running old Ferrari power units after having ended its contract with Renault, but will return to the French manufacturer next season as part of a new deal.

Following Red Bull's example, Toro Rosso is now exploring the possibility of re-badging the power units, with the power unit supplier for the team listed as TBC on the official FIA entry list for the 2017 season, despite the new Renault deal being confirmed in May. As it now has its own works team, Renault has agreed to let the Faenza-based outfit rename the power unit if it wishes.

Team principal Franz Tost confirmed Toro Rosso is in talks with a sponsor about a deal, telling Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport: "We have the possibility to find a title sponsor to rebrand our 2017 engine, as Red Bull did last year with Tag Heuer ... We're in negotiations with a sponsor."

It is not clear at this stage if Toro Rosso is negotiating a new deal or talking to an existing sponsor. When Red Bull secured the Tag Heuer sponsorship that resulted in the renaming of the power unit, the junior team picked up a previous deal with Red Bull watch sponsor Casio. 2016 has also seen a new partnership with Acronis - a company that provides hybrid cloud data protection - grow rapidly from a one-race sponsorship in July to a long-term deal.

In the same interview, Tost confirmed Toro Rosso has already passed its crash tests with next year's STR12, with the team targeting a more successful year having seen competitiveness drop off during 2016 as a result of running a year-old Ferrari power unit.