Sauber technical director Smith left F1 team

Sauber has revealed its technical director Mark Smith left the team, with the former Caterham man returning to the UK for family reasons.

Smith joined the Swiss outfit last summer to fill a post that had been vacant since James Key’s departure ahead of the 2012 season. Before his tenure with Team Lotus (later Caterham), Smith worked at Red Bull and Force India.

Prior to hiring Smith, Sauber had restructured its organisation and worked without a technical director, relying on a committee that comprised the heads of car performance, aerodynamics and the design groups.

Driver Felipe Nasr explained over the winter that Smith was the driving force behind Sauber's different and aggressive approach in terms of design that has resulted in the 2016-spec C35.

“We would like to thank Mark for his efforts and we wish him all the best for his future”, the team said in a statement.

TECHNICAL: A closer look at the Sauber C35

F1i Classic: Melbourne 2002 - Mark Webber's dream debut

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Julien Billiotte

Recent Posts

Hamilton pins Madring pole miss on ‘dodgy set of tyres’

Lewis Hamilton had pole position within his grasp at the inaugural Spanish Grand Prix. Then,…

5 hours ago

Russell reveals what derailed his Madring Q3 charge

George Russell will start only sixth at the Spanish Grand Prix, a frustrating outcome after…

5 hours ago

Poleman Norris shocked by ‘one of the best laps of my career’

Lando Norris emerged from the inaugural qualifying session at Madrid’s Madring looking almost as surprised…

6 hours ago

Spanish GP: Saturday's action in pictures

Lando Norris snatched a dramatic Spanish GP pole by just 0.011s from Kimi Antonelli, with…

6 hours ago

Spanish GP: Norris stuns - snatches pole from Antonelli!

Lando Norris unexpectedly snatched pole position from Kimi Antonelli by just 0.011 seconds in a…

7 hours ago

2026 Spanish Grand Prix - Qualifying Results

Full results from qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix at Monza, round 13 of the…

7 hours ago