Smith was only promoted as technical director of Force India in February, to replace James Key, who moved to Sauber. Now, Lotus Racing has announced that Smith will join them as technical director "at the end of his Force India notice period".

Force India is expected to consider taking legal action, having already accused Lotus and former technical boss Mike Gascoyne of stealing a wind tunnel model of Force India's 2009 car and using it as a base for Lotus' current T127 race car.

Smith had previously worked with Renault and Red Bull Racing, and joins Gascoyne, chief designer Lewis Butler and head of aerodynamics Marianne Hinson in defecting to the Lotus team. "Lewis and I were together at Force India, and Lewis also worked with Mark Smith at Red Bull, and Marianne and I have known each other since 1999 when I gave her first job in F1 at Jordan, so we all know each other very well," said Gascoyne.