New-look Toro Rosso completes '17 launches in Spain

Toro Rosso became the final team to unveil their 2017 car on Sunday evening, as drivers Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat pulled the wraps off the STR12 - complete with much-revised livery - at Spain’s Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The Italian team hope their new Renault-powered machine, lower and wider than its predecessor as per the 2017 regulations, will help them improve on their seventh place overall last year, which was achieved using old-spec Ferrari engines.

Design changes aside, its most striking feature is its colour scheme - still blue, but much lighter than the traditional shade of the team’s parent company Red Bull, with which fans have become familiar over recent years.

“For all Formula One fans, 2017 should be a year of excitement and uncertainty, as the sport’s technical regulations have undergone one of the biggest changes we have seen in a couple of decades,” commented Franz Tost, Toro Rosso team principal.

“In simple terms, the cars are wider, longer, lower, faster, noisier and use bigger tyres, promising more grip, higher cornering speeds and hopefully even closer racing.

“Everyone in the team has worked extremely hard to ensure we have a very competitive season. Our chassis is mated to what is possibly the most competitive engine we have had so far in the hybrid era, as we return to Renault power once more.

“We really like the first major livery change of our 12 years on the F1 grid and this new look is reflected in our pit garage, which has also been updated to make life easier while working around these much larger cars.” Technical director James Key added: “With driver continuity and a power unit which made a major step forward last year and which should be developing strongly this year, it just leaves the chassis as an unknown quantity.

“We always set ourselves ambitious targets and this year, we are taking a more long-term view over the 20 races, with a long list of planned in-season developments. I suspect it will be a very busy year with plenty of performance still to be found.”