26/07/2018
NEWS STORY
In one of those delicious moments almost unique to F1, Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost has said that the Italian team will not comment on talk of technical director James Key joining McLaren, by pointing out that the Briton has a "long term" contract with the Faenza team.
Since the story broke early this morning, other than a brief tweet from McLaren stating that "McLaren is pleased to confirm that James Key will join the team in the role of technical director", there has been no official comment from either team.
However, as the official drivers press conference got underway, Franz Tost also took to Twitter to announce: "James Key has a long term valid contract with the team. The contents of the contract are confidential, therefore we won’t comment on any of the details."
His comment suggests that despite McLaren's tweet the deal is far from done and that Toro Rosso isn't happy.
{twittert=https://twitter.com/McLarenF1/status/1022438647256309760}
Since joining Toro Rosso in 2012, Key has gained much respect in the paddock and a number of teams, including Ferrari and Williams, have been linked with the Briton.
As previously reported, the move to McLaren would not only impact Toro Rosso, but Red Bull which would no doubt be keen to gain from Key's experience as the Faenza outfit's big sister team prepares to switch to Honda power.
{twittert=https://twitter.com/ToroRosso/status/1022466955448602625}
Check out our Thursday gallery from the Hungaroring, here.