Steiner appointed RBR tech boss

The announcement completes the new management line-up at RBR after a turbulent week that saw Tony Purnell and David Pitchforth unexpectedly ousted from their positions by the team's Austrian ownership.

Steiner, who has recently focused his efforts on the Opel DTM programme, will be returning to a familiar environment, having previously served as technical director (and briefly as managing director) of Jaguar Racing in 2002 before departing the outfit after the disastrous R3 chassis saddled the team at the back of the grid.

Steiner, 39, from Italy's South Tyrol region, will join sporting director Christian Horner, who was on hand at the Autosport International show (see separate story).

Alongside the announcement of Steiner's appointment came news that the new management have elected to postpone the launch of the 2005 car, which was originally scheduled for February 7 at Jerez. Instead the team will unveil the RBR1 at the season-opening Australian GP in Melbourne.

Horner explained the postponement as follows: "We're in a phase of restructuring and want to take advantage of every available day to prepare for our first year. We are concentrating all our efforts on creating the conditions we need for our young team to get off to an optimal start this season."