STR set to become full constructor

The team is expanding its facilities and employee levels to allow it to design and build its own car after competing for the past four seasons with a customer Red Bull.

Tost added that the team would appoint its own chief designer to oversee this.

"We are busy expanding our infrastructure because we have to design and develop our own car in Faenza next year," said Tost. "Everything is running according the plan.

"The parts that the Concorde agreements demands every team must do, we will do in Faenza. But other composites, for example transmission and things produced with partners, we will make other arrangements for.

"But we will have our own chief designer. Adrian Newey is concentrating on Red Bull Technology and Red Bull Racing."

Tost emphasised that although the team has been competing using Red Bull designs, it has had to do a large amount of its own work in-house to adapt the car for the Ferrari engine.

The team will continue to have a tie-in with Red Bull, and will use the team's wind tunnel in the United Kingdom.

"This year we had to develop our whole engine installation," said Tost. "A lot of those parts were designed and manufactured in Faenza.

"We will use the Red Bull wind tunnel in Bicester and we are establishing our own CFD department. There are wind tunnels in Italy, but from a cost-effectiveness point of view, Bicester is the best solution.

"It belongs to Red Bull, and because STR is a team that takes cost-cutting seriously, that is the best solution."

Tost added that despite the positive progress on building up the team's facilities and workforce, the uncertainty over the regulations means it has to be careful not to recruit too quickly.

"At the moment there are questions surrounding the regulations, and Toro Rosso has no influence on that," he said. "But we have to be flexible to ensure that we are able to get the best out of the regulations to be well-prepared for 2010.

"We are on about the 200 mark [in terms of employees] and we will employ a minimum of 30-40 people in the near future. But we need to wait and see how the regulations develop because we can't employ people and then fire them!"