©XPB Images & Toro Rosso
SCI-FI
It’s only logical for an engineering and technical mind like Key's to highlight the growing influence of technology on F1. In a not so distant future, the Roborace series will feature driverless autonomous cars that will compete in driving algorithms around Formula E tracks.
At this rate, won’t we end up with a championship of cars that would have been designed by robot engineers? The plot could have inspired Scottish science-fiction writer Iain Banks, one of Key’s favourite authors. The Briton uses the extensive time he spends on international flights to devour futuristic novels or scientific essays.
“Banks wrote some very good books,” Key said. “I think James Allison likes his work as well.”
Has the Toro Rosso tech chief used material from his readings to feed his thoughts since he started designing the Renault-powered STR12 from a blank canvas? Key admits 2017’s true competitive order won’t emerge before the season-opening race in Australia.
“You’ve got no reference points from anywhere than your own internal targets. You can get that horribly wrong or you can be on the money. We won’t know really until qualifying in Melbourne ultimately.
“But you’ve got to go through that whole process of working out exactly what it is that you need to be doing with the ‘17 car to be competitive. I don’t know whether we’ve done enough and I guess no other team does either, but it’s an exciting time.”
To use the words of British poet T.S. Eliot, who was an inspiration for Banks, Toro Rosso’s captain strives to “turn the wheel and look to windward”, awaiting to drop the anchor in the bay of Melbourne.
©Toro Rosso
