Personnel

This forum is for all dedicated past and present Formula One personnel discussions. This includes people such as team principals, designers, engineers, race directors, FIA personnel, etc. New threads cannot be started in this forum, so if you wish to start a discussion about a particular person, post it in the main F1 discussion forum and click on Report, asking to have it moved here. The title of the thread should just be the person's name. Only one thread per person is permitted.

As he's the confirmed man in charge now he should have a thread. Especially as he says that the British GP is safe, and he also says that Europe (that includes the UK) is at the heart of F1 and he wants to grow the sport here. Sounds good. I can't say anything about his background, so if anyone knows his History, maybe they could share ?

I will put up short bio of Jean Todt in the near future but this was more to post the fact that he and Gerard Saillant (president of the FIA Institute) are suing Phillipe Streiff after comments he (Streiff) made after Jules Bianchi's accident. http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ex-f1-driver-philippe-streiff-sued-by-todt-and-saillant-after-comments These were Streiff's comments: http://www.grandprix247.com/2015/01/22/streiff-blasts-todt-for-bianchi-accident-cover-up/

Just noticed she doesn't have her own thread yet! Anyway lets introduce her to cliptheapex. Claires 1st contribution to F1 was actually being born back in 1976 which makes her one of the younger team bosses in F1. After graduating from Newcastle University she had a spell in the Silverstone Press office before joining Williams in 2002 where she has worked her way up from the bottom from being a lowly communications minion all the way to being a board member and deputy team principal. Not bad in 10 years! She is known for her refreshing cheerful attitude in the F1 paddock which has prompted this recent article from Sniffpetrol.com http://sniffpetrol.com/2014/06/25/claire-williams-warned/

Who is Christian Horner? Is he what he appears, the extremely successful team principal of the best team in Formula One; a shrewd operator who has won everything and is the glue that holds the Red Bull team together. Or is he just a yes-man, for Marko maybe, a brown-noser to Ecclestone and a surprisingly obnoxious front man for the energy drinks advertising budget. Surely he's somewhere in between though, he must be more than an advertiser (you'd say EJ surely), but he clearly isn't calling all the shots. He's probably best characterised as F1's best young politician, not only winning the external war but managing several other big-shots and two drivers convinced by their own right to superior treatment.

Nicholas Richard Fry is the CEO of Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One team. He was MD of BAR Honda, coming from Dave Richards ProDrive operation, from 2002 and continued in that role when Honda bought the team out in 2006. When Honda withdrew from F1 in 2008, having won only a single race, Fry continued in a senior management role at the newly born Brawn GP and then became CEO when Mercedes bought Brawn at the end of 2009, having won both the Drivers and Constructors Championship. To read this in Nick Fry speak please add a comma and and an "Ah" after every 3rd word. Nick Fry is one of F1's great survivors. Every time the Brackley team are sold there are rumours about his position but he keeps hanging in there. No idea how, but...

EJ Former race driver, Former F1 team owner, he is also a business man an entrepreneur and a mentor. At present he is lead analyst for the BBC's F1 coverage and seems to know before anyone else exactly what is going with both, the drivers and teams. So what are your thoughts of the man in the know...

Adrian Newey OBE Considered by many to be the best car designer currently in F1 and in my opinion certainly rivalling some of the all time greats such as Colin Chapman. Newey graduated from the University of Southhampton in 1980 with first class honours in Aeronautics and Astronautics. He went on to work for the Fittipaldi F1 team before joining March in 1981. He was a successful designer from the word go. His first race car design was the March GTP sports car which won the IMSA GTP title two years running. In 1984 Newey design the March IndyCar his design proving highly competitive taking 7 wins including the coveted Indy 500. His IndyCar success continued in 85 with the March 85C taking the title. Leaving Indycar to move back...

I was surprised to see there wasn't already a thread about this most famous of (former) team principals. Much has been said about Ron Dennis and his unique personality and approach, mostly taken with a pinch of salt and slight chuckle. Well perhaps this article, by a former McLaren employee, will dispel some myths while simultaneously reinforcing others: http://f1elvis.com/2012/11/07/mr-ron-dennis-cbe/ (Alternative link: http://www.pitlanemagazine.com/magazine/?p=435) Love him or loathe him, Dennis' tenure at McLaren will be remembered for a long time to come and it is inevitable that current and future team principals will be compared to him.

Well this woman is an inspiration for women wanting to get into F1. In 2010 she became the CEO of the Sauber F1 team and by 2012 she's now become the first woman to be an F1 team principal. I think this achievement is a thread deserved on its own. Rumors are also mounting that Bernie Ecclestone has targeted Monisha as an heir to his F1 empire as well :). All I can say is :goodday: off to this extraordinary women, who will surely inspire women like myself to get into F1 :).

http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/max-mosley-sues-google-in-landmark-battle-over-digital-rights-a-853008.html

Someone has said it on this site before, I think it was Brogan, but the problem isn't that Tilke is necessarily a bad designer but the only one that is used to design tracks and therefore they all seem to be the same. This problem is further compounded when his hands are tied by Bernie - "you must have so and so corners and so many straights". So a creative man is not even allowed to be creative - a sad indication of the times :(

Fernandes came into F1 as an unknown Quantity but everyone knows who he is now. Fernandes came into F1 with the intention on bringing the Lotus name back to this much loved sport. Fernandes has had struggles with regards for the rights over the Lotus name and was taken to an FIA court over the name when Renault bought the rights to have the Lotus name. Lotus Renualt won the row and Group Lotus were forced into changing their name. Now the team goes under the name of Caterham. Fernandes and his team are now considered to be many peoples second favourite team on the grid. Since entering the sport Fernandes has spread his wings and has entered into the world of Football having bought London Club Fernandes. Will Fernandes's...