Toro Rosso is in talks as it seeks to follow Red Bull's example in rebadging its Renault engines.

Following the debacle of 2015, which saw the Austrian team threaten to walk away from the sport - and subsequently claim it was not being serious - unless an alternative engine supplier could be found to give it engines capable of beating Mercedes - the Austrian outfit opted to stick with Renault, albeit re-badging the power units as Tag Heuer.

Now, as Toro Rosso switches back to Renault power after a season with Ferrari, the Faenza outfit is also seeking to re-badge its French engines.

"We have the chance of finding a title sponsor, like Red Bull has done with TAG Heuer," team boss Franz Tost revealed to Gazzetta dello Sport. "We are negotiating with a potential sponsor."

Referring to the 2017 contender, the STR12, with which the Italian team hopes to improve on its seventh place finish in the 2016 standings, he revealed that the car has passed the mandatory crash test and will be ready for its track debut at the opening test which gets underway on February 27.

"We're respecting the road map," he said. "We did crash tests and we'll do a filming day with the new car before the start of the winter test at Barcelona."