Now It's Offical

On thursday Scuderia Toro Rosso made it offical: James Key has replaced Giorgio Ascanelli as the squad's Technical Director. The 40 year-old Key, who formerly held the same post at Sauber, had to wait out a six month 'no compete' clause as part of his departure from the Swiss team, and therefore was not available until now. 

Team Princpal Franz Tost waseager to welcome James aboard.

"James comes to us with a strong reputation and has proved he can help smaller teams punch above their weight. We cannot expect miracles in the next few races, but James has joined early enough to have an influence on our car for 2013, when we hope to have a better season than this one, even if last weekend’s result in Belgium, with both cars in the points, was encouraging.”

For his part, Key is ready to get back to work after his hiatus, and is pleased with the overall attitude that he has found at STR.

“Even after just a few days, I have sensed, from everyone I have dealt with, an enthusiasm to move the team forward. ...Our aim has to be to move the team up a level in terms of its position within the F1 hierarchy. Next year’s car project is already well underway and it seems to be going in the right direction and now we have a few months left to ensure it is a step forward from this year’s car. "

He also mentioned that the team has not given up on making further improvements to this year's car in an effort to improve upon it's generally lack-luster performance.