The Renault Sport Formula One team has bolstered its design department with the signing of former Mercedes employee Matthew Harman, who was head of powertrain integration.
Harman, who has been a long-serving member within the Mercedes company, has switched over to the French Marque and will join them on September 1 in his new role as deputy chief designer – he will report to chief designer Martin Tolliday.
Since Renault's return to F1 at the start of the 2016 season, money and resources have been poured into the team in all areas as they have been looking to return to winning ways; signing Harman with his experience of how the Mercedes power unit comes together will be vital to the long-term plans for the team.
Cyril Abiteboul, Renault's managing director said: "Over the past three years Bob Bell has been leading the charge for the team to reinforce its technical line-up.
"We are delighted to have attracted someone of Matthew’s calibre to enable the team to anticipate on the design cycle of future cars, a crucial benefit, something we are currently missing since the team’s acquisition and that will become even more important with the upcoming changes planned for 2021."