Smith in Red Bull link

Smith, who helped design some of Renault's recently successful machinery, had switched to Jordan at the end of last year but left the team within a few days of new owners Midland F1 taking it over from Eddie Jordan.

It had been expected that Smith would automatically go to the Toyota team, where he would renew a close working relationship he has had with its technical director Mike Gascoyne. The pair have worked alongside each other for several years.

However, sources close to Toyota have told autosport.com that although Smith did hold talks with the team in the wake of him deciding to leave Jordan, it appears that there was no suitable position in the company for him.

Toyota technical director Mike Gascoyne himself refused to confirm the news when asked by autosport.com about Smith's future. "There is no comment on that. We are looking to strengthen the team all the time and that is all I can say."

Instead, it now appears that Smith has opened talks with Red Bull Racing about a possible role as its deputy technical director alongside the newly appointed Gunther Steiner. It is not thought a definite decision has been made yet, but both parties are understood to be seriously considering a co-operation.

Smith's possible arrival at Red Bull Racing means he will not be the first staff member to have switched there from Jordan. In the same weekend that Smith left, race engineer Gerry Hughes also departed Jordan and has since ended up at RBR as its head of race engineering.