GREAT DESIGNERS IN F1 HISTORY

There is no champion without a reasonably good car, that is the LAW OF AUTOMOBILISM. I dedicate this part of the site to honor those people who are sometimes forgotten, but who are fundamental to the success of pilots: the designers.

1) Rudolf Uhlenhaut:

A name very little known to F1 fans, Rudolf Uhlenhaut was a Mechanical Engineer at Mercedes, responsible for the project of the Mercedes W196, a revolutionary F1 car with direct injection non-electronics, who raced with covered wheels in GP France 54, and gave the 1954 and 1955 championships to Fangio in F1. The most curious thing about Rudolf's story is that he tested Mercedes cars and even managed to beat Fangio's times, despite never having raced in official competitions. In other words, he was good in terms of design and good in terms of arm too. He was responsible for the design of the Mercedes-Benz 300SL and SLR.

Thanks to Mechanical Engineer and kart pilot Eurico Mello, for providing the information about Rudolf Uhlenhaut.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Uhlenhaut

2) Colin Chapman:

Few know but Colin Chapman was an F1 driver for just one race at the 1956 French GP, but he is truly known as a revolutionary designer and owner oflegendary Lotus team. Chapman brought several innovations to F1 that would soon be copied by other teams, including the famous GROUND EFFECT generated by the floor of the F1 car, in which he and engineer Peter Wright wereI love the creators. His team Lotus won the titles in 1963, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1972 and 1978 and won the Indianapolis 500 in 1965 with the genius Jim Clark.

3) Mauro Forghieri:

In 1961, at just 27 years of age, Forghieri was appointed technical director at Ferrari, having joined the team as an apprentice the previous year following his graduation from university. (Source: AUTORACING website *) He was a designer at Ferrari, responsible for the great cars of 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979 and 1982. During this period he won Niki Lauda's double championship and Jody Scheckter's championship, he just didn't win the 1982 title because of the death of Gilles Villeneuve and the serious accident of Didier Pironi.

(*) https://www.autoracing.com.br/projetista-mauro-forghieri-morre-aos-87-anos/#comment-6029962473

4) Gordon Murray:

Gordon Murray was an engineer at Brabham from 1972 to 1986 and at McLaren from 1987 to 1991. He was the first designer to bring the idea of "pull rod" suspension to F1 in 1974 (with this car José Carlos Pace won the GP Brasil 75 ), in 1976 he brought carbon brakes to F1 and in 1978 he designed the "Brabham fan" which won a race with Niki Lauda later was banned from F1. More trade, he designed the 1981 and 1983 Brabhams that gave Nelson Piquet titles and in 1986 the Brabham BT55 which was the first "skateboard car" in F1 (this project would be the precursor to the McLaren 88). In 1987 he transferred to McLaren (replacing John Barnard) and signed the project together with Steve Nichols (chief designer) of the McLaren MP 4/4, a car that won 15 of the 16 races in 1988 with Senna and Prost. In the late 80s, he even designed the first road-going McLaren with a BMW engine.

5) John Barnard:

English designer with an innovative style, who participated in the design of the M23 series McLarens (1972 to 1974, champion with Emerson Fittipaldi) and was the main designer of the MP series McLarens of the 80s with carbon fiber (MP4/2, MP4/2A and MP4/2B, champions with Niki Lauda and Alain Prost) and also innovated with the "coca-cola shaped" rear, taking advantage of the Coanda Effect. In 1987 he transferred to Ferrari, designed good cars in those years that won 12 races from 1987 to 1990, and in 1990 the Italian team competed equally with McLaren. In 1991 he transferred to Benetton, he made history by launching the shark beak car that would be the reference for all F1 cars from 1995 onwards.

Fun fact: he was a disciplined designer. When he joined Ferrari, he forbade mechanics to drink wine with lunch on race weekends, which was common practice within the team.

6) Patrick Head:

Was a designerboss of the Williams team, responsible for the champion cars of 1980, 1982, 1986, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996 and 1997. He dominated GROUND EFFECT in F1 from 1980 to 1982, during this period Williams won 2 titles (80 and 82) and just didn't win the one in 81, because Piquet made a difference at Brabham. He designed the Williams 92/93 which may have been the best car in history, in practice it was 2 seconds faster than any car on the grid and had a very high reliability. The Williams FW14B, FW15, FW15B and FW15C eraman electronic marvel, which corrected piloting errors, as they had ABS brakes, electronic differential, active suspension and traction control and the FW15 still shifted gears by itself both in accelerations and reductions, in addition to having the aerodynamics of Adrian Newey. This car was so dominant that its electronics were banned for the 1994 season.

As a curiosity, several different drivers were champions with these cars and none of them won twice (Jones, Rosberg, Piquet, Mansell, Prost, Hill and Villeneuve).

7) Rory Byrne:

South African Rory Byrne is aA name very little remembered, but he was the main designer of ALL of Schumacher's champion cars. Ross Brawn was the 2nd designer and didn't always participate in the projects. Champion cars: Benetton 1994 and 1995, Ferrari 1999 (constructors champion), 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004.

8) Adrian Newey:

In numbers, this is the greatest designer in the history of F1. An aerodynamic engineer is called a "Wizard" in F1, for knowing how to use the aerodynamics of cars, adapting them to each type of regulation. A feature of their cars is to generate downforce, without compromising aerodynamic drag.

In 1980, he started as an intern at the Copersucar team (future Fittipaldi), from 1981 to 1983 he worked at March de F2, from 1984 to 1987 he worked at Indy Car, winning two drivers' titles (*) during this period.

In 1988, Newey returned to F1, this time with the March team, where he designed his first car, the 881 model, which gave McLaren a hard time in the Japanese GP 88. March's cars showed excellent aerodynamics and only failed to achieve better results because of of its weak engine.

From 1991 to 1997 he moved to Williams, then from 1998 to 2005 he worked at McLaren and from 2006 onwards at Red Bull, being champion for these 3 different teams (Williams, McLaren and Red Bull).

Drivers' Champion: 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Constructors' Champion: 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2022 and 2023.

Adrian Newey designed the March 85C and 86C (*), cars that were champions in 1985 with Al Unser Sr and 1986 with Bobby Rahal in F Cart. Proving that in the other categories, he also built winning cars.

(*) Source: Boteco F1 channel(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioQbRVlYE5I&t=1s)

Here's a video from Canal Driver61 telling Adrian Newey's story. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ1cOyMDD-g&t=42s