Lotus Racing appoints new Technical Director

Smith will start at the end of his Force India notice period, and joins Lewis Butler (Chief Designer) and Marianne Hinson (Head of Aerodynamics), also from Force India, at the squad. These appointments, alongside Keith Saunt (Chief Operating Officer), Dieter Gass (Deputy Technical Director), Elliot Dason-Barber (Head of Vehicle Dynamics), Frank Ramowsky (Head of R&D), Rob Reeve (Head of Electronics) and Jody Egginton (Chief Engineer), complete the technical senior management structure.

Mike Gascoyne, the head of the technical division at the team, commented, "Mark Smith and I were first at Jordan together where our first car was the 199, Jordan's most successful F1™ entrant, and then he came with me to Renault where we helped put them back on the top step of the podium, and put in place the team that went on to win two world championships. Most recently we were together at Force India, and I'm delighted he sees the potential we have here, and has seized the opportunity to work with me, Tony and the whole team on helping Lotus Racing reach the front of the grid.

"For me, it's not just about the proven technical ability of the team we now have in place, it's also the fact we've all worked together before, know how to achieve the goals we've set out, and know how to have fun together. We all work together extremely well, and that gives us the perfect base from which to build for long-term success," he added.