James Key's move to McLaren confirmed, Egginton to become TD at Toro Rosso

Toro Rosso and McLaren have jointly confirmed an agreement over the move of James Key from the Italian team towards Woking, where he will also be appointed technical director.

Scuderia Toro Rosso and McLaren Racing confirm they have reached an agreement to settle the position of Mr James Key, who will be released by Scuderia Toro Rosso prior to the end of his existing contract arrangement on March 23rd 2019.

James Key will start his new role at McLaren Racing on March 25th, one week after the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. The British team had announced Key's signing on July 7th, only to be refuted by Red Bull as unconfirmed.

What followed were difficult negotiations, with Key immediately left home by Toro Rosso as both teams determined terms. Negotiations weren't easy, as Key is highly regarded as a competent technical director, and Red Bull is believed to have done everything it could to make it difficult for McLaren to get him out of his running contract at Toro Rosso.

With the deal done and sealed, Toro Rosso deputy technical director Jody Egginton will be promoted to his new role as Technical Director as of March 25th 2019. Egginton was already heavily involved in the development of the STR14, and effectively took up Key's role as soon as he was left out of the loop.