Manor reveals it has recruited ex-Mercedes technical director Bob Bell as a technical consultant in an effort to bolster the ex-Marussia squad’s prospects.
Bell started working in Formula One at McLaren in 1982 and then went on collaborating with Benetton, Jordan and Renault where he helped the team secure a pair of back-to-back double titles with Fernando Alonso in 2005 and 2006.
Bell then joined Mercedes GP in early 2011 and stayed with the defending champions until the end of their 2014 title-winning campaign.
Manor has also appointed ex-Toro Rosso chief designer Luca Furbatto as its new head of design, and signed former Toyota and Caterham man Gianluca Pisanello in the position of chief engineer.
“We're delighted to welcome Bob, Luca, and Gianluca to the team,” said team principal John Booth. “It's been a dramatic but rewarding start to our 2015 season, and we're only now able to settle into more of a rhythm, allowing us to look to the future.
“Our focus this season is to re-build the foundations of the team and develop our internal capabilities.
“As ever in Formula One, we rely on the experience, tenacity and drive of our colleagues, so we're delighted to welcome our new teammates.
“Each of them brings a huge amount of experience from within the sport, adding further dimensions to our existing technical and engineering capability.
“Whilst we seek to optimise our performance during the remainder of the 2015 season, we can also turn our attention to the next exciting chapter in our story – 2016 and beyond.”
Manor exited administration in February following an eleventh-hour agreement. While the British squad could make it to Melbourne’s season opener, drivers Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi were stranded to their garage all weekend as the outfit struggled with a raft of technical issues.
Since then, both 2014-spec cars have been able to qualify and finish races on a regularly basis but remain quite far off the pace of their nearest rivals ahead.
Click here for a look back at Robert Kubica's only Formula One victory in Canada
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