Manor signs up Bob Bell

Bob Bell

(GMM) Backmarker Manor on Monday said it has signed up highly-respected F1 manager and engineer Bob Bell.

Ulsterman Bell resigned as Mercedes' technical director a year ago, formally leaving the German giant last November.

Most recently, it was reported the 57-year-old, who served as Renault's interim team boss after the 'crash-gate' scandal of 2009, had returned to Renault and was being lined up as a potential chief for a new works team.

But Manor on Monday said Bell will be "assisting the team" in 2015 as "a technical consultant".

Bell will also be "supporting and advising Manor's senior management as they rebuild the team and formulate an ambitious long term plan", Manor added in a statement.

Also on Monday, Manor said it has signed up former Toro Rosso designer Luca Furbatto and former Caterham engineering chief Gianluca Pisanello.

"It's been a dramatic but rewarding start to our 2015 season, and we're only now able to settle into more of a rhythm, allowing us to look to the future," said team boss John Booth.