Former Sauber technical director would join Toro Rosso

At Hockenheim, Giorgio Ascanelli, technical director of the Scuderia Toro Rosso, was notably absent. Officially, the Italian was on vacation, but unofficially, Ascanelli was rumored to be on his way out, taking his share of the blame for the Italian team’s more than disappointing start to the season.

If no official announcement has yet been made, Daniel Ricciardo’s statements to the Australian Associated Press tend to confirm the assumptions of tensions within the Italian team: « At Hockenheim, there were discussions and Giorgio wasn’t there. It might be resolved during the summer break, maybe it came at the right time, that with some rest everyone will have reconsidered. It might turn out for the better and, at Spa, maybe everything will return to normal, or there could be changes. »

While some say Giorgio Ascanelli is coveted by Ferrari where Pat Fry could delegate him the charge of track operations, others claim that Toro Rosso has already found his successor in the technical direction at Faenza in the person of James Key, former technical director of Sauber, where he notably worked on the Sauber C31 until his departure at the beginning of the season.

After joining the Jordan team in 1998, James Key became the technical director when it was renamed Midland. He retained his position when the team became Spyker, then Force India, but in 2010 he moved to Sauber after a very promising 2009 season for the Indian team. After leaving the Swiss team last February, numerous media outlets reported on Ferrari’s interest, but since the unofficial departure of Giorgio Ascanelli, the paddock still sees James Key heading to Italy, but more towards Faenza.

Translate: Joe Saward, a respected journalist in the paddock, even suggests that the hiring of James Key might have preceded the departure of Giorgio Ascanelli: James Key will start working at Toro Rosso on September 1, which probably explains why Giorgio Ascanelli left in July. Key left Sauber in February, suggesting he had a six-month non-compete clause after his departure, meaning he could not work in Formula One, but this did not prevent him from working for Advanced Design Engineering Systems Solutions AG, in partnership with the Lotus Endurance team. And Saward adds: There is no certainty about when an agreement was reached with Toro Rosso.

In any case, James Key would arrive at Toro Rosso with a fine reputation in light of Force India’s performances in 2009 and Sauber’s this season.