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Aston Martin plans to appoint a new Formula 1 technical director as part of its ongoing process to create what it calls “a more focussed technical management structure with greater strength in depth”.
As reported last week, Alfa Romeo chief designer Luca Furbatto will join at the start of next year as engineering director, with Andrew Green promoted from technical director to chief technical officer.
This leaves the space for the appointment of a technical director, who is yet to be announced but likely to have been lined up by the team already, who will be announced in due course.
The new technical director will be responsible for overseeing the aerodynamics department, overall car design and what Aston Martin calls “the short to mid-term technical strategy”. This is part of the expansion of the team, which now numbers just under 550 people and could expand to as many as 800 and will move into a new purpose-built Silverstone factory next year.
They will be one of three senior technical leaders who report to Green, the others being Furbatto, who is responsible for factory engineering support and projects, including structures, reliability and R&D, and Tom McCullough.
McCullough, who joined Force India from Sauber ahead of the 2014 season, will continue to be responsible for trackside engineering and performance, but under the new title of performance director.
Aston Martin has explained this extends to “all the performance areas within the factory”, defined as aero and vehicle performance, as well as performance simulation and software.
“As Andrew Green takes on this important strategic technical role, I am pleased to outline our new structure that will add real strength in depth to our technical operations,” said team principal Otmar Szafnauer.
“In Tom, we have an experienced and talented engineer, who will continue to be responsible for trackside performance as well as the many factory-based performance functions. He is a strong leader, who has contributed a huge amount to the team’s success over the last eight years.
“With Luca Furbatto adding expertise to factory operations, focussed on the technical support areas, we have brought in another excellent people manager with great expertise in his areas of responsibility. Both men will report to Andrew Green, as will the soon to be appointed new technical director.
“Everybody at Aston Martin Cognizant Formula 1 Team aims to win grands prix and world championships, and this new and improved structure we have created mirrors that of the most successful teams in Formula 1 today.”
