People

Bob Bell

Bell graduated with a doctorate in aeronautical engineering from Queens University in Belfast and joined McLaren in 1982 where he worked with John Barnard, Neil Oatley and Steve Nichols on a successful series of cars until 1989 when he was promoted to head the research and development department. In 1995 he was put in charge of the top secret MAVerick project, McLaren's Land Speed Record car. The project was shelved in 1996 and Bell moved to Benetton as chief aerodynamicist in 1997 and 1998 before being appointed head of research and development at Jordan in 1999, where he found himself working under Mike Gascoyne, a man who had previously worked for him at McLaren. The two helped Jordan to become competitive but when Gascoyne went to Renault in 2001 Bell followed and became deputy technical director. When Gascoyne moved on again to Toyota in 2003 Bell became Renault's technical director and led the team to World Championships in 2005 and 2006.