Toro Rosso's technical director James Key says the team's 2016 car has been compromised by its late engine deal.
The Red Bull junior squad confirmed at the start of last month that it would be running with year-old Ferrari power units this season.
The delayed decision was due to uncertainty surrounding Red Bull's involvement in the sport. Key says Toro Rosso would have liked to know what engine it was using in March, but he remains optimistic the Italian outfit can build on its encouraging 2015 season.
"Yes and no, because when you've got a tricky engine situation it's always a compromise," he told Sky Sports. "There is a compromise because you've really got to be optimising your car around what is an incredibly complicated installation of these power units.
"Back in March is when you're really getting to grips with what you're trying to do. So it does compromise from a technical viewpoint. In terms of what the team is doing, I don't think it makes the slightest bit of difference. You simply shuffle plans around accordingly.
"There are some really good guys to work on all this stuff, so we've got a lot of very competent production guys and designers who are working hard to make sure that we're in the best shape possible.
"You'd never want it because it is a massive distraction and it does compromise your car, but it's surprising what you can do when you're faced with uncertainty."
Toro Rosso has retained its driver line-up of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr. Looking ahead to the new F1 season, Key added: "For sure we can build [on 2015 results] because we learnt a massive amount and made a huge step from the STR9 car.
"Most of it we understand why, there are areas that perhaps surprised us a bit too and we made a bigger step than expected. So you build on that.
"In some cars it's reinventing stuff to release more of the potential, in other cases it's taking a philosophy that seems sound and pushing it to the next step where you need a redesign to do that, because in-season it's not possible."
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The delayed decision was due to uncertainty surrounding Red Bull's involvement in the sport. Key says Toro Rosso would have liked to know what engine it was using in March, but he remains optimistic the Italian outfit can build on its encouraging 2015 season.
"Yes and no, because when you've got a tricky engine situation it's always a compromise," he told Sky Sports. "There is a compromise because you've really got to be optimising your car around what is an incredibly complicated installation of these power units.
"Back in March is when you're really getting to grips with what you're trying to do. So it does compromise from a technical viewpoint. In terms of what the team is doing, I don't think it makes the slightest bit of difference. You simply shuffle plans around accordingly.
"There are some really good guys to work on all this stuff, so we've got a lot of very competent production guys and designers who are working hard to make sure that we're in the best shape possible.
"You'd never want it because it is a massive distraction and it does compromise your car, but it's surprising what you can do when you're faced with uncertainty."
Toro Rosso has retained its driver line-up of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr. Looking ahead to the new F1 season, Key added: "For sure we can build [on 2015 results] because we learnt a massive amount and made a huge step from the STR9 car.
"Most of it we understand why, there are areas that perhaps surprised us a bit too and we made a bigger step than expected. So you build on that.
"In some cars it's reinventing stuff to release more of the potential, in other cases it's taking a philosophy that seems sound and pushing it to the next step where you need a redesign to do that, because in-season it's not possible."
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