Sauber has boosted its technical department with the signing of Mark Smith to the position of technical director.
The Briton will start his new role on July 13th following a relocation from Oxfordshire to Zürcher Oberland in Switzerland.
Smith most recently held the technical director role at Caterham between 2011 and 2014 and has previously worked with Force India, Red Bull and Jordan.
A statement confirmed he would be positioned within the current technical committee “which consists of the heads of car performance, aerodynamics and the design groups”.
Speaking about his appointment, Smith said: “When I saw the facilities for the first time in Hinwil I immediately realised the possibilities I would have. 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 1.”
Team principal Monisha Kaltenborn added: “After talks with the technical committee, we have searched for a technical director for the Sauber F1 Team – and found Mark.
“Mark Smith is an engineer with a lot of experience in Formula 1. 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.”
