Geoff Willis

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Geoffrey "Geoff" Willis (born December 23, 1959 in Southampton , United Kingdom ) is a British motorsport aerodynamicist and racing team director.

Life

Willis studied mechanical engineering at the University of Cambridge and earned a Ph.D. in Aerodynamics from the University of Exeter . After completing his studies, he worked for British Maritime Technology from 1982, where he dealt with the aerodynamics of submarines and hydrodynamics .

Willis joined the America's Cup team Blue Arrow in 1987 , where he was responsible for the shape of the keel and hull . He also dealt with programs of computational fluid dynamics (computational fluid dynamics, CFD); Later he was one of the first to use this knowledge in Formula 1.

In 1990 he became an advisor to the Leyton House team , which had taken over the traditional racing team March, which had failed after a comeback attempt . While at Leyton House, he met Adrian Newey , who was already with Williams, became an aerodynamicist for the Williams F1 team and worked as a consultant to the team. When Newey switched to rival McLaren in 1996 , Willis was proposed - alongside Gavin Fisher - as his successor and eventually got the post of chief aerodynamicist.

In 2002 Geoff Willis joined the British American Racing team , which Honda owned in 2005. Willis' status on the team became unclear when Shuhei Nakamoto assumed the position of Chief Technical Director on June 22, 2006 . Willis was told not to come to the races and to concentrate solely on aerodynamics. The latter contradicted the employment of Mariano Alperin-Bruvera as head of the aerodynamics group that used Honda's new wind tunnel. Willis eventually left the team that same year.

On July 17, 2007, Red Bull Racing hired him as Technical Director, again under Adrian Newey. He worked there until July 2009. From March 2010 to summer 2011 he was technical advisor to the Hispania Racing F1 Team . He has been working for Mercedes Grand Prix since October 2011 . He initially worked as technology manager, but has been responsible for the team's digital infrastructure as Director of Digital Engineering Transformation since 2017 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Geoffrey Willis , mercedesamgf1.com; Accessed March 29, 2020
  2. ↑ Unsung hero - Geoffrey Willis. , crash.net dated June 24, 2003; Accessed March 29, 2020
  3. ↑ Red Bull signs Willis as technical director , motorsport-total.com from July 17, 2007; Accessed March 29, 2020
  4. ↑ Willis no longer with Red Bull , motorsport-total.com of July 9, 2009; Accessed March 29, 2020
  5. ^ Official: Mercedes brings Costa and Willis , motorsport-total.com from September 30, 2011; Accessed March 29, 2020
personal data
SURNAME Willis, Geoff
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Willis, Geoffrey
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British motorsport aerodynamicist and racing team director
DATE OF BIRTH December 23, 1959
PLACE OF BIRTH Southampton , UK