Alpine exodus continues, engineer Bob Bell joins Aston Martin

Bob Bell is the latest big-name engineer to leave Alpine after taking a new role as Aston Martin’s technical executive director.

Bell has a long history in Formula One, working for McLaren, Renault and Mercedes over the last four decades. He will be reunited with Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin, who he won the 2005 and 2006 championships with.

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Bell had been working in an advisory role at Alpine since 2018 and is among a number of technical leaders to leave the struggling team in the last year.

In the space of two weeks last summer, chief executive Laurent Rossi, team principal Otmar Szafnauer, sporting director Alan Permane and chief technical officer Pat Fry all left the French team.

Former racing director Davide Brivio departed at the end of December, while technical director Matt Harman and head of aerodynamics Dirk de Beer handed in their resignations earlier this month.

In his new role at Aston Martin, Bell will report to team principal Mike Krack.

“I am delighted to welcome Bob Bell to Aston Martin Aramco,” Krack said.

“This is a key appointment to ensure we are optimising everything we do as a team and focusing on the right performance areas.

“Bob’s track record in the sport speaks for itself and his experience will help us continue to make steps forward on the exciting journey we are on.”

Bell, 65, said he is excited to take on a new challenge.

“I have been impressed by the progress Aston Martin Aramco has made in recent years. The opportunity to play my part in that journey is incredibly exciting and I look forward to working with the great technical leaders at Silverstone,” Bell said.

“The scale and ambition of this project is highly motivating. I am a racer, and I see the hunger and determination powering this team. I look forward to playing my part with Mike and the rest of the team.”

Aston Martin finished the opening race of the season in ninth and tenth after securing fifth in the constructors’ championship last year.

The team’s owner, Lawrence Stroll, has invested heavily in a new factory near Silverstone, with an upgraded wind tunnel set to come online later this year.