Tost optimistic Toro Rosso could still finish fifth

Conventional wisdom has suggested Toro Rosso will struggle more as the season goes on as its year-old Ferrari power unit becomes more and more outdated, with the team's highest-scoring driver Carlos Sainz expressing concerns after Germany.

However, Tost believes the team, which currently lies sixth in the standings, can overcome the engine deficit and challenge Force India for fifth place.

"The second half of the season will not be easy for us in Monza and Spa, because of the performance of the power unit," Tost told Motorsport.com.

"But Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, America and Abu Dhabi should be quite good. Sao Paulo is in between, it depends also on which weather is over there. But you need a lot of power there as well.

"I’m still optimistic that we can finish in fifth place in the constructors championship. I know that now Force India is ahead of us, but the potential of the car is on a very high level, the drivers are doing a good job. I hope that also hope the team will do a good job.

"We just need one, two really good results to finish in the first five. And we are close to that. The possibility is there."

Second half an "open question"

Despite his team's particular engine situation in 2016, Tost insisted there was nothing special about the pressures it will face in the coming rounds.

"The pressure on the team is always special in Formula 1. This is not a special pressure.

"I expect that in the second part of the season we will lose performance, because all of our competitors will get some engine upgrades - and it depends how good these engine upgrades would become and, in parallel of this, how much we will develop our car. And this is still an open question.

"We will see where we are. But I think, with some new upgrades, that we still would be in a position to fight against our direct competitors in a successful way."

Interview by Jon Noble and Oleg Karpov