As the Honda Racing F1 Team prepares for the final commissioning of its new state of the art wind tunnel, it is pleased to confirm that Mariano Alperin-Bruvera has been promoted to the position of Chief Aerodynamicist.

With building work on the new full scale tunnel nearing completion, Mariano will now lead the efforts of a significantly expanded team of aerodynamicists, designers, technicians and modelmakers at the Brackley Operations Centre in the UK, which works alongside a similar group at the Dome facility in Japan.

The 40 year old Argentinian joined the team at its inception in 1998 as a Senior Aerodynamicist. Prior to that, he held aerodynamicist positions with AGS France, Lamborghini and Fondmetal. He then moved to the Durango F3000 team before returning to Formula One for a four year spell with the former Minardi team.

Geoffrey Willis, Technical Director of the Honda Racing F1 Team, commented: "Mariano Alperin-Bruvera has been part of this team since the beginning and a key player in its progress to date. His new role will see him step up from head of one of our two aero development groups to a position of overall aerodynamic leadership. I have every confidence that in the position of Chief Aerodynamicist, Mariano will continue to play a pivotal role in our team's pursuit of its championship ambitions."

Commenting on his new position, Mariano Alperin-Bruvera said: "I'm very proud to be given this opportunity to lead what I believe to be one of the strongest and most talented aerodynamics teams in Formula One. Our new wind tunnel represents a new technological step in aerodynamic research and I'm confident that there are some very exciting times ahead of us."