Chassis shake-up 'biggest in 20 years', says Key

Scuderia Toro Rosso technical director James Key has declared the changes in the sport resulting from new tyre and aerodynamic regulations in 2017 amount to the biggest change that he's seen in Formula One in two decades.

"In my 20 years in F1 it’s the biggest chassis change I can remember," Key confirmed on Sunday at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, as the team unveiled its new STR12 contender for this year's Formula One world championship.

"In ’98 the narrow track had just arrived and there were various tweaks up to 2009, when a larger change occurred, but other than the front wing it was still based around principles that we knew.

"These rules however, include a track change, significantly different tyres and a new aero regulation as well. From a chassis point of view it’s all encompassing with a lot of new things to learn."

Toro Rosso reveals revamped STR12!

With the team staying with Renault engines for another season, Key said that retaining Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat as the team's driver line-up was another important bit of stability in the face of such comprehensive change.

"With driver continuity and a power unit which made a major step forward last year and which should be developing strongly this year, it just leaves the chassis as an unknown quantity.

"We always set ourselves ambitious targets and this year, we are taking a more long-term view over the 20 races, with a long list of planned in-season developments.

"I suspect it will be a very busy year with plenty of performance still to be found," he added.

GALLERY: F1 drivers' wives and girlfriends

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.