Sauber appoint Mark Smith as team's new technical director

Mark Smith joins Sauber as technical director from the now-defunct Caterham

Sauber have strengthened their design team by appointing Englishman Mark Smith as their new technical director.

Smith, 54, was most recently the technical director of Caterham, which collapsed last winter, but has also performed the role for Red Bull, Force India and Jordan.

Smith also worked at Renault as chief designer from 2000-5.

Smith said: "The potential of Sauber is enormous. The factory has all the requirements to be competitive."

Sauber had the least successful season in their history last year but have recovered this year and are currently seventh in the championship with 21 points after eight of 19 races.

Sauber said Smith would fit into their current technical structure, which comprises of a committee of heads of car performance, aerodynamics and design groups.

The team said Smith would "take responsibility for overlapping tasks, as well as leaving members of the technical committee the space to fully focus on their working areas".