OCTOBER 15, 2003

Renault confirms Bell

As we exclusively predicted some time ago Renault F1 has lost Mike Gascoyne and replaced its technical director with his deputy Bob Bell. The team clearly wanted to appear to be solid until the end of the season and so avoided admitting that Gascoyne had already departed. Gascoyne will join Toyota's F1 operation on December 1 - as we also predicted.

Bell is 45 and a doctor of aeronautical engineering. He has been with Renault since 2001 when he followed Gascoyne to the team from Jordan Grand Prix. Prior to that he was at McLaren where he is best known for having been responsible for the World Land Speed Record program.

At Toyota, Luca Marmorini will assume the position of Technical Director for Engines while Gustav Brunner will remain as chief designer, reporting to Gascoyne.