Caterham sign new aerodynamics chief

2013 F1 season

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Caterham have signed a new head of aerodynamics as they bid to move up the grid.

Hari Roberts has joined the team from Lotus, having previously worked for Renault and Jordan.

Technical director Mark Smith said Robert’s arrival “extends an excellent working relationship that I have had with him over many years with teams including Jordan and Renault F1 Team”.

“He gives us more senior leadership in a critical area of the team’s development and it is another sign of our shareholders’ ongoing commitment to our team’s growth that we have appointed someone of Hari’s calibre to the role of head of aerodynamics.”

“From a starting point of zero just over four years ago Hari now joins a team of over 120 very talented people in our Technical Office. We have also invested in such core areas as our dedicated model shop at Leafield, the ongoing development of our High Performance Cluster, which powers our CFD and design functions, and our driver in the loop simulator – all of which give us the tools needed to fight with the most famous names in motorsport in years to come.”

Roberts said: “Caterham F1 Team has the potential to grow into a serious force in Formula One and I am looking forward to playing an integral role in helping the team fulfil its potential.”

2013 F1 season


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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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14 comments on “Caterham sign new aerodynamics chief”

  1. Perhaps the more challenging question here is “Why isn’t he going to Mercedes?”

    1. @prisoner-monkeys Because that would be too mainstream.

    2. @prisoner-monkey Thanks for giving me a wry smile on a Monday morning!

    3. It’s cheaper to get Mercedes staff on a sale and leaseback scheme.

    4. because he is not fit for Technical Director role. Mercedes are only looking for Technical Directors and above resumes…

  2. Yeah he could be Director of Technical Directors or something!

  3. And another Renault man joins Caterham.

    1. I would consider this normal, since Renault and Caterham are now partners and created a new company, Société des Automobiles Alpine Caterham, together.
      Of course Caterham F1 is still independent but becoming a full manufacturer in the future (with support of Renault) seems a possible scenario.

      1. Ino (@f1givesyouwings)
        4th March 2013, 12:01

        He was at Renault F1 and then Lotus, so nothing to do with Caterham F1.

  4. I suppose his appointment is a bit too late to see any meaningful changes to the Caterham that’ll lead it past Marussia and into STR and whoever else is back-of-the-midfield-pack area

    1. That’s assuming they’ve fallen behind Marussia.

  5. I hope this benefits the team, as in recent seasons they have promised so much yet delivered so little. They seem to be casually optimistic about the upgrades they are bringing to Barcelona, so hopefully it will close the gap sufficiently to the midfield that they can challenge for a point. Sadly though, the driver line-up doesn’t look too promising to deliver that point if they have the machinery to do it.

    1. This guy is probably part of their 2014 plans. Doubt they expect anything from 2013. Even their driver line-up states that. They picked two pay drivers now so they can have them in better form for next year if they have what it takes and if they don’t, no problem since they gathered money from them so they can invest in 2014. It seems Caterham is mostly interested about 2014 since they see it as a good chance to start from the same spot as others and finally start a season without trailing the other midfield teams by a 2 seconds.

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