(Reuters) – Former Renault technical director Bob Bell has decided to leave his advisory role at Alpine Formula One team and has joined Aston Martin as the technical executive director.
This move brings the 65-year-old Bell back together with two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, who achieved his successes with Renault in 2005 and 2006 before moving to Aston Martin from Renault’s Alpine team last season.
Bell had been working part-time at Alpine since 2018 but will now take on a new senior leadership role at Aston Martin. He will report to team boss Mike Krack and oversee technical, engineering, and performance functions.
Team boss Krack emphasized the importance of Bell’s appointment in ensuring that the team optimizes its performance. He stated, “This is a key appointment to ensure we are optimizing everything we do as a team and focusing on the right performance areas.”
Bell, who has extensive experience working with McLaren and Mercedes, is the latest addition to the growing list of seasoned staff members departing from Alpine, based in Enstone.
Last summer, Alpine witnessed a significant shakeup in its top-tier personnel, with Chief Executive Laurent Rossi, principal Otmar Szafnauer, Sporting Director Alan Permane, and Chief Technical Officer Pat Fry all leaving within a two-week period.
Davide Brivio, the former racing director, departed at the end of December to return to MotoGP, while technical director Matt Harman and aerodynamics head Dirk de Beer left the team earlier this month.
Alpine’s performance in the season opener in Bahrain was disappointing, with both cars starting from the back row of the grid. Drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly finished the race in 17th and 18th positions.
The team’s overall standing has seen a decline, dropping from fourth in 2022 to sixth last season and currently holding the bottom spot in the standings.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ed Osmond)
