Robert Charles Bell (born 10 April 1958 in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

) is a former Formula One engineer and technical director, best known for his work with the

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufacture ...

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

team. Bell attended Queen's University in Belfast, gaining a doctorate in Aeronautical Engineering. before joining McLaren in 1982 and worked as the company aerodynamicist until 1988, when he was promoted to head of research and development for the next two years. In 1997, Bell moved to the

Benetton Formula Benetton Formula Ltd., commonly referred to simply as Benetton, was a Formula One constructor that participated from to . The team was owned by the Benetton family who run a worldwide chain of clothing stores of the same name. In 2000, the t ...

team, working there with

Nick Wirth Nicholas John Peter Wirth (born 26 March 1966) is an automotive engineer and the founder and owner of Wirth Research. He is also the former owner of the Simtek Formula One team, a former aerodynamicist at March and former technical director at ...

. He worked as the Senior Aerodynamicist at Benetton until 1999, when he went to the

Jordan Grand Prix Jordan Grand Prix was a Formula One constructor that competed from 1991 to 2005. The team was named after Irish businessman and founder Eddie Jordan. The team was based at Silverstone, UK but raced with an Irish licence. In early 2005, the t ...

team joining them as the head of vehicle technology, after being invited by his former McLaren colleague Mike Gascoyne. Both left Jordan for

Renault F1 The French automotive manufacturer Renault has been associated with Formula One as both team owner and engine manufacturer for various periods since 1977. In 1977, the company entered Formula One as a constructor, introducing the turbo engine ...

and in 2001, Bell was appointed the deputy technical director at the Enstone team, becoming the technical director in 2003 when Mike Gascoyne departed to join the Toyota F1 team. Bell was Renault F1's technical director during the hugely successful 2005 and 2006 seasons, in which his R25 and R26 won both the Drivers' and the Constructor's championships. The next two seasons saw very few good results, and his projects dropped in the Constructor's championship to fourth place in 2007 and 2008. After the resignations of Flavio Briatore and

Pat Symonds Patrick Bruce Reith Symonds (born 11 June 1953) is a British motor racing engineer. He was the Chief Technical Officer at Williams Grand Prix Engineering, from 2013 until 2016 having previously worked at the Benetton, Renault and Virgin Formula ...

in relation to the

Renault Formula One crash controversy The Renault Formula One crash controversy, dubbed Crashgate by some in the media, was a sporting scandal caused when Renault F1 driver Nelson Piquet Jr. deliberately crashed during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to give a sporting advantage to ...

, Bell was appointed acting team principal for the rest of 2009, on September 23, 2009. For the 2010 season, Bell held the position of managing director for the Renault team until leaving the team on October 6, 2010. On 18 February 2011, Bell was appointed as the new technical director of Mercedes GP, effective of 1 April 2011. On 14 April 2014, Mercedes announced that Bell had resigned his position in December 2013 and would be leaving the team in November 2014. Prior to the 2015 , Manor Marussia announced the recruitment of Bell as technical consultant. On 3 February 2016, Bell was announced as the chief technical officer at the newly created Renault Sport F1 Team, with the Renault R.S.16 car. He worked at the Renault team for two years, before stepping away from the team in 2018, becoming a part-time advisor. This came after a 36-year career in Formula One.

References

External links

Bob Bell profile on Renault F1 website
1958 births Living people Sportspeople from Belfast Aerodynamicists Formula One designers Renault people McLaren people {{F1-bio-stub