HRT have promoted engineer Antoni Cuquerella to the role of technical director as of Monday.
The team have been without a technical director since September 2011 when Geoff Willis left the Spanish outfit.
The team explained the reasoning behind Cuquerella’s appointment is for the Spaniard to lead the development programme for the F112 which competed in its first race in Malaysia a week ago after failing to qualify in Australia.
“With the F112 put on the track, it’s now time to work on its development and evolution and so, the naming of a person to lead this project is necessary,” read a team statement.
“[There is] no one better than Toni Cuquerella, with his experience in Formula 1 and his praiseworthy work at the fore of HRT, to take it on.”
The 38-year-old has previously worked with Supaer Aguri and BMW-Sauber before moving to the Campos Meta start-up in 2009, which then morphed into HRT following a takeover.
Cuquerella said of the announcement: “The role of Technical Director implies a great amount of responsibility in terms of coordination and decision making. That’s why I’m very proud that the management considers me to be the most adequate person to carry it out,” he said.
“Until now there was a lot of dispersion from within the technical team and that had its repercussions in the concept and quality of the F112. My priority is to solve the current car’s problems to then develop it to its maximum potential, whilst also unifying and expanding the technical department, but I’m confident that we have a good work base and a clear direction to advance and have a good project for the future.”
Luis Pérez-Sala, team principal, added: “Toni Cuquerella has been a key figure in the team since its inception and, above all, in this new stage. The transition from the previous project to this one hasn’t been easy and a lot of work has been carried out that without vital figures such as him wouldn’t have been possible.
“The position of Technical Director was vacant and the development of the F112 was carried out at the technical office in Munich. But now, with the car already on the track, it was important to take control and count on someone influential at the head of the technical office. And because of his experience, judgment and knowledge, Toni’s profile fitted in perfectly.”
