Eghbal Hamidy (born 1 August 1960) is an Iranian aerodynamic engineer. He was technical director and aerodynamics expert for several
Formula 1
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
(F1) teams in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Career
Hamidy was one of the very few Iranian engineers working in F1. He graduated from
Imperial College
Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
in London, majoring in aeronautical engineering (S1 and S2) and vehicle dynamics for his doctoral program in the late 1980s.
He started his career in the Williams team in 1989 as an aerodynamicist. During his time at Williams he worked with Patrick Head, Enrique Scalabroni and Adrian Newey. He stayed in the team until the end of 1995. His best achievement was when he helped
Nigel Mansell
Nigel Ernest James Mansell, (; born 8 August 1953) is a British retired racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship (1992) and the CART Indy Car World Series ( 1993). Mansell was the reigning F1 champion when he moved over ...
(1992),
Damon Hill
Damon Graham Devereux Hill, (born 17 September 1960) is a British former professional racing driver from England and the 1996 Formula One World Champion. He is the son of Graham Hill, and, along with Nico Rosberg, one of two sons of a Formu ...
(1992) and
Alain Prost
Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French retired racing driver and Formula One team owner. A four-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, from 1987 until 2001 he held the record for most Grand Prix victories until Mich ...
(1993) to world champion titles and the Williams team to constructor's Championship Titles in 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1996. In 1996 he left for the
Stewart GP team.
At Stewart GP, Hamidy served as chief Aerodynamicist working with Alan Jenkins. At that time, he was known as an expert in designing great cars on wet tracks, because every time there was a rainy race condition, Stewart GP's appearance was always stunning. His first car at Stewart GP, SF01, came second in Monaco Grand Prix piloted by Rubens Barrichello.
Even when he left for
Arrows in 1999, Hamidy's influence was felt on Stewart.
Rubens Barrichello
Rubens "Rubinho" Gonçalves Barrichello (, ; born 23 May 1972) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competed in Formula One between and . He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 111 Toy ...
recorded pole in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and
Johnny Herbert
John Paul "Johnny" Herbert (born 25 June 1964) is a British former racing driver and current television announcer for Sky Sports F1. He raced in Formula One from 1989 to 2000, for seven different teams, winning three races and placing 4th in t ...
recorded victory at the
Nürburgring
The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...
.
In the team led by
Tom Walkinshaw
Thomas Dobbie Thomson Walkinshaw (14 August 1946 – 12 December 2010) was a British racing car driver from Scotland and the founder of the racing team Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR). He was also involved in professional rugby union, as owner of ...
, Hamidy earned the reputation as an expert in designing fast cars on the low-downforce style circuit. This is evidenced by the speed of
Jos Verstappen
Johannes Franciscus Verstappen (; born 4 March 1972) is a former (Formula One) racing driver. Verstappen was the German Formula Three champion and Masters of Formula Three winner in 1993.
In Formula 1, Verstappen raced for seven different t ...
in the
2000 Austrian Grand Prix
The 2000 Austrian Grand Prix (formally the XXIV Großer A1 Preis von Österreich) was a Formula One motor race held on 16 July 2000 at the A1-Ring near Spielberg, Styria, Austria with 85,112 spectators in attendance. It was the tenth round of ...
, the
2000 Italian Grand Prix
The 2000 Italian Grand Prix (formally the LXXI Gran Premio Campari d'Italia) was a Formula One motor race held on 10 September 2000 at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza near Monza, Lombardy, Italy before a crowd of between 110,000 to 120,000 sp ...
, and finally the
2001 Austrian Grand Prix
The 2001 Austrian Grand Prix (officially the Grosser A1 Preis von Österreich 2001) was a Formula One motor race held at A1-Ring in Spielberg, Styria, Austria on 13 May 2001. It was the sixth round of the 2001 Formula One World Championship and ...
.
He moved to
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
in early 2001. He helped with the development of Jordan's EJ11 and EJ12. Unfortunately his spell at the Jordan team was not successful and led to his departure in early 2002.
References
External links
Eghbal Hamidy - Jordan information site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamidy, Eghbal
1960 births
Living people
Formula One people