Aldo Costa

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Aldo Costa (born June 5, 1961 in Parma ) is an Italian engineer .

Career

Costa, who should not be confused with the French designer Michel Costa , graduated from the University of Bologna in 1986 with an engineering degree. Significantly, the title of his thesis, which is valued by experts, is “Wheel suspensions of a Formula 1 car”. The Scuderia Ferrari allowed him to carry out the necessary studies .

He gained his first practical experience with CAD / CAM and the calculation of aerodynamic data at Fiat - Abarth , where he was employed for 18 months. From 1988 he worked for Minardi , where at the age of 27 he was probably the youngest chief designer in the industry. Aldo Costa served for many years as chief designer for the Minardi team, where he became known for his original detailed solutions on the front wings. In the mid-1990s, he temporarily had to step into the second ranks when Gustav Brunner was given extensive powers as chief designer, as he also indirectly determined the team's tactics.

Costa joined Ferrari in 1997 before becoming assistant to chief designer Rory Byrne in 1998 . When Byrne announced in 2004 that he wanted to retire from motorsport, Costa became his designated successor. Byrne left the design of the 2005 F2005 to Aldo Costa, but still helped with the design during the season after it was discovered that Ferrari was unable to win due to the make of tires used ( Bridgestone ). The successor model in 2006 was again designed by Rory Byrne. When Byrnes was limited to his work as a consultant on September 19, 2006, Costa became the sole chief designer at Ferrari. On January 1, 2008, he was promoted to technical director of the team, his successor as chief designer was the Greek Nikolas Tombazis .

After a bad start to the 2011 season, Costa was fired from Ferrari in May. In October it was announced that he will be working for Mercedes GP from December 2011 , where he was appointed chief engineer. After 8 years at Mercedes GP, Costa left Formula 1 before the 2020 season. In the 8 years at Mercedes, the team won 6 constructors 'championships, with 5 Lewis Hamilton and 1 Nico Rosberg winning the drivers' title. In the future, he will work for the chassis manufacturer Dallara as CTO, also so that he can devote more time to his family in Italy.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Willy Knupp (Ed.): Grand Prix '92 experienced live. Formula 1 World Championship, Motorbuch Verlag: Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-613-01470-X , p. 61.
  2. Costa and Ferrari go their separate ways , motorsport-total.com on July 20, 2011
  3. Official: Mercedes brings Costa and Willis , motorsport-total.com on September 30, 2011
  4. Aldo Costa is leaving Mercedes and joining Dallara in 2020. Retrieved March 28, 2020 .