Scuderia Toro Rosso is fine-tuning the STR7, the team's new 2012 Formula 1 contender, through ongoing practice sessions in Jerez, Spain.

V-8 power for the new car comes from a familiar source: Ferrari. Or, as the team describes, “that other Italian outfit which calls itself a Scuderia” (if Enzo were alive to read that cheeky reference, someone would have earned a trunk ride for their efforts).

Pirelli tires are again on Advanti Racing wheels; sponsors Cespa, Falcon Private Bank and Nova Chemicals return to back the team efforts.

Nearly everything else has changed for the 2012 season, which begins March 18 in Melbourne, Australia, and this year includes an inaugural F1 race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

The STR7’s most obvious visual difference from last year's STR6 reflects new FIA regulations, dictating a low front wing and raised nose in the new car. The sides have also been reworked to afford more driver protection. Less noticeable is the rerouted exhaust system to a higher position, though these and other tweaks with the DRS (drag reduction system) all dictated extra wind-tunnel time in Bicester, UK.

With the new car comes new drivers; logical enough since the program grooms up-and-comers of the Red Bull Junior Team of Red Bull Racing. For 2012, Daniel Ricciardo, a 22-year-old Australian, joins 21-year-old French upstart Jean-Eric Vergne to lead the team in its seventh campaign.

Follow Scuderia Toro Rosso and all the sport’s teams with our F1 coverage throughout the year.