Caterham part ways with technical director Mark Smith

Caterham F1 Team announced this morning the departure of its technical director Mark Smith after the Leafield structure chose to reorganize its technical department. A new Technical Committee has been set up to manage all technical and operational aspects of the team on and off the track. The position of Technical Director will not be taken over directly: John Iley, Jody Egginton and Gerry Hughes will lead specific areas of the Technical Committee and will report to the Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul.

John Iley joined Caterham F1 Team in 2012 and served as Director of Performance before becoming Chief Performance Engineer with management of all aspects relating to the competitiveness of the car, including aerodynamics and vehicle performance. Jody Egginton served as Deputy Technical Director before becoming Director of Design and Manufacturing and is now responsible for the Design, Production, Control Systems and Electronics departments. As for newcomer Gerry Hughes, recruited this year as Chief Engineer, he will now lead on-track operations, retaining his former position while managing the management of personnel and on-track activities.

“I would like to thank Mark for his time and dedication to developing the team since his arrival in 2011. We part on good terms and wish him the best for the future”, comments Cyril Abiteboul. “It was tough to see someone of Mark's caliber told to leave, but we realized that we needed to restructure in order to improve our performance and that we needed to set up a Technical Committee . After investing in a new factory last year and increasing our development in aerodynamics last winter, we are fortunate to have three specialists whose experience, passion and dedication we can harness to help us to progress. »