Respected Formula 1 designer James Key has left his position as technical director at Toro Rosso and is set to join McLaren following a period of gardening leave.
That is the claim of the BBC who add that the length of time between the Briton's departure from Faenza and arrival at Woking has yet to be confirmed as CEO Zak Brown continues his overhaul of the team's structure to turnaround the team's fortunes.
The news comes as there is talk Matt Morris, the engineering director at McLaren, has stepped down from his position leaving just Peter Prodromou in the technical team that was formerly headed by Eric Boullier.
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Typically a period of gardening leave for an engineer when he switches teams is a year as their former employers are keen to minimise the usefulness of knowledge an engineer has of their car to their new colleagues.
In this case, however, it is thought that time could be reduced to just six months if McLaren agreed to lend junior driver Lando Norris as a replacement for Brendon Hartley, following the failure of an initial approach for the current F2 racer earlier this year.
As for the possible impact Key can have at Woking, the Briton is well-known for producing good cars including the 2012 Sauber which scored three podiums that season and was his last design for the Swiss team before joining the junior Red Bull team.
