14/03/2016
NEWS STORY
In a shock move, Sauber has announced the departure of its technical director, Mark Smith, just days ahead of the start of the season.
"The Technical Director of the Sauber F1 Team, Mark Smith, has decided to go back to the UK for family reasons," said the team in a statement. "He has already left the company. We would like to thank Mark for his efforts and we wish him all the best for his future."
Smith only joined the Swiss outfit in July last year, having previously been Technical director at Caterham (2011-2014), Lotus (2011), Force India (2010-2011), Red Bull (2005-2008) and Jordan (2004-2005).
The reason for Smith's sudden departure is sure to be one of the talking points in Melbourne over the weekend, in recent weeks the team admitted that some staff had been late in receiving their February salary, the team blaming the issue on the late arrival of sponsorship money.
It was at last year's season opener, again Australia, that the Swiss team found itself in court - and subsequently out of pocket - when Dutch racer Giedo van der Garde took legal action claiming that he had a contract to drive for the team, as did Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson.