Blandin still works at Brackley and is not expected to join his new team until October next year after he finishes his gardening vacation.
His appointment comes as a surprise as he is the first key player to be poached by Mercedes, Aston Martin’s engine and transmission supplier.
An Aston spokesman told Autosport: “We can confirm that Eric Blandin will work for the Aston Martin Cognizant F1 team next year. Its exact start date has not yet been set.
“The transition from the Mercedes AMG F1 Team to us will be amicable.”
The team did not provide their role or job title.
The Frenchman Blandin began his career in 1998 with the Italian wind tunnel company Fondmetal Technologies before moving to Jaguar Racing as an aerodynamicist in 2002.
He stayed with the Milton Keynes team until he switched to Red Bull Racing and became aero team leader before leaving the team in late 2009.
During that time he worked with Dan Fallows, who is leaving Red Bull to become Aston’s technical director early next season.
From January 2010, Blandin worked for 14 months as aero team leader at Ferrari before joining Mercedes in May 2011 as head aerodynamicist. In September 2017 he was promoted to chief aerodynamicist.
Eric Blandin on the podium as Mercedes team representative after Valtteri Bottas’ victory at the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Blandin joins a long list of high profile Aston Martin recruits as Stroll continues to build his team, making it a real title contender.
In addition to the future technical director Fallows, other important new hires include the technical director Luca Furbatto, who previously worked at Alfa Romeo, and the head of technical operations, Andrew Alessi, who comes from Red Bull.
Team boss Otmar Szafnauer recently made it clear that Aston Martin is still hiring to prepare for the World Cup.
“Recruitment hasn’t slowed down,” he said.
“But unless they are very high-profile, we don’t announce them all. We hired over 150 people this year and will continue to do so.
“If we want to win a world championship in four years, we need staff, infrastructure, a factory, a wind tunnel, just like the top teams, and we are on our way to achieve that.”
Szafnauer indicated that Furbatto will start soon: “Luca will be with us within weeks.
“Yes, it was announced. But you know, like everyone else, they have their notice periods. So Luca will be free to start with us within weeks.”
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