Mark Smith New Technical Boss at Sauber

The movement among senior technical figures within the smaller teams continues, with much travelled technical director Mark Smith appointed to th...

The movement among senior technical figures within the smaller teams continues, with much travelled technical director Mark Smith appointed to the role at Sauber beginning on July 13th.

This follows the hirings at Manor of some of Smith's former Caterham colleagues and his old boss at Renault, Bob Bell.

Smith, who has been technical head at Jordan, Force India Red Bull and Caterham joins the Swiss outfit after a year on the sidelines.

The 54-year-old Briton left Caterham shorty before Tony Fernandes sold the team last year and is set to relocate to Switzerland to oversee Sauber's 'Technical Committee'.

"When I saw the facilities for the first time in Hinwil I immediately realised the possibilities I would have," said Smith. "The wind tunnel, the supercomputer and the machine shop – everything is on a very high technical level.

"And not to forget the competence of the team. These facts were compelling reasons and arguments for me changing to Hinwil. The potential of Sauber is enormous, which is not self-evident in a constantly changing Formula One world.

"The factory in Hinwil has all the requirements to be competitive in Formula One."

Sauber currently lies seventh in the Constructor's championship following an encouraging return to form following a pointless 2014 campaign. Team boss Monisha Kaltenborn says Smith carries the team's full support.

“After talks with the technical committee, we have searched for a Technical Director for the Sauber F1 Team – and found Mark," said Kaltenborn.

"Mark Smith is an engineer with a lot of experience in Formula One. Above all, he knows the environment in which privateer teams must work and the challenges that are there - and how important it is to keep calm and keep things in perspective.

"With us he finds technical possibilities on a very high level. We wish Mark a good start for which he has our full support."

Marcus Ericsson said, "Obviously I worked with him a bit last year at Caterham and I have a very positive feeling with him joining the team.

"Obviously he’s not going to be able to much short-term, but I think in the longer term he is a very good person to have in the team, with his experience, so it’s a good thing for Sauber."