Just hours after McLaren officially confirmed that current Toro Rosso technical director James Key would lead its engineering department in 2019, the Faenza-based squad appears to be contesting the announcement.
Oddly, McLaren did not issue a press release announcing Key's appointment, which means that details related to the timing of the British engineer's arrival at Woking remain unknown.
The team did however communicate the news on social media. But Toro Rosso's Franz responded this afternoon with a somewhat confusing message of its own on Twitter.
McLaren is pleased to confirm that James Key will join the team in the role of technical director. pic.twitter.com/A7HtBqS5zo
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) July 26, 2018
"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."
There is speculation that Red Bull likely won't let Key depart without Toro Rosso negotiating a form of compensation as his contract has yet to run its term, whether it be hard cash or perhaps by enjoying the benefit of bringing McLaren junior Lando Norris into the bull pen, as Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko attempted to do recently.
There's currently a lull in Red Bull's young driver programme, forcing Marko to seek young talent out of the energy drink's stable.
Franz Tost:
"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." pic.twitter.com/RUkmdrFtKj
— Toro Rosso (@ToroRosso) July 26, 2018
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