Aston Martin have signed Alfa Romeo chief designer Luca Furbatto as their new engineering director.
Furbatto, who previously worked for BAR, Toyota, McLaren and Toro Rosso, will join before the 2022 season.
Aston Martin have also promoted technical director Andrew Green to the new role of chief technical officer.
They said Furbatto was “the first of a number of significant new hires as the team continues to add strength in depth to its technical operations”.
Green described Furbatto, who has Italian and British citizenship, as “an exceptionally talented engineer”, adding: “He brings a vast amount of experience with him built up from more than two decades in the sport spent at several leading Formula 1 teams.
“This is the first of many key appointments we are making in line with our ambition to establish Aston Martin at the front of the grid.”
Aston Martin is the former Racing Point team which was renamed this year following owner Lawrence Stroll taking control of the famous British sports car company.
Racing Point – previously Force India, Spyker, Midland and originally Jordan – has generally been a midfield team but Stroll has ambitions of them becoming world champions in the future.
Their signing of four-time F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel for this season was another signal of their ambitions for the future.