Japan's Takuma Sato has had talks with Toro Rosso about a possible return to Formula One next season but a test has yet to be agreed, the team said on Tuesday.

"We have had talks but there is nothing to confirm yet," said a spokeswoman when asked whether they might try out the 31-year-old at Jerez in southern Spain after next month's Italian Grand Prix.

Sato is Japan's most successful Formula One driver but he has been looking for a way back into the sport since his Super Aguri team folded in May.

The driver's manager Andrew Gilbert-Scott told Reuters that they were talking to several teams.

"If we had the chance to test with them, then we'd be delighted to do so," he said of Toro Rosso, who are co-owned by Red Bull energy drinks billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz and Austria's former racer Gerhard Berger.

Toro Rosso need a replacement for Germany's Sebastian Vettel, who is moving to Red Bull to take over from retiring Scot David Coulthard, while France's Sebastien Bourdais has yet to be confirmed for 2009.

Berger told the autosport.com website that Red Bull's Swiss junior driver Sebastien Buemi would have an evaluation test at Jerez in September.

"The ideal situation would be a young driver and an experienced one," he said of next year's lineup. "We are putting everyone on the list who is free, but there is no clear option at this stage. We will take our time."