George Ryton (born 15 August 1948 in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

) is a British

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

best known for his involvement in

Formula One 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, ...

auto racing.

Career

Ryton entered the world of F1 when he was hired to work in the

Haas Lola Team Haas (USA) Ltd., sometimes called Beatrice Haas after its major sponsor, was an American Formula One team founded by Carl Haas in 1984 after an agreement with Beatrice Foods, a US consumer products conglomerate, which competed in the Worl ...

team's drawing office for . When the team was disbanded, he moved to

Reynard Reynard the Fox is a literary cycle of medieval allegorical Dutch, English, French and German fables. The first extant versions of the cycle date from the second half of the 12th century. The genre was popular throughout the Late Middle Ages, a ...

to help design the company's first

Formula 3000 Formula 3000 (F3000) was a type of open wheel, single seater formula racing, occupying the tier immediately below Formula One and above Formula Three. It was so named because the cars were powered by 3.0 L engines. Formula 3000 championships ...

chassis. Soon afterwards, he moved to the design centre of

John Barnard John Edward Barnard (born 4 May 1946, Wembley, London) is an English engineer and racing car designer. Barnard is credited with the introduction of two new designs into Formula One: the carbon fibre composite chassis first seen in with McLar ...

, who was Ferrari's Technical Director at the time. At the end of , Ryton was offered the position of Technical Director of the new

EuroBrun EuroBrun Racing was an Italian-licensed Formula One constructor based in Senago, Milan, Italy. They participated in 46 Grands Prix between 1988 and 1990, entering a total of 76 cars. Background The team was a combination of two outfits – the ...

team, which was never competitive and withdrew from F1 before the end of the season. Ryton then moved to become Chief Designer at Tyrrell under

Harvey Postlethwaite Harvey Ernest Postlethwaite (4 March 194415 April 1999) was a British engineer and Technical Director of several Formula One teams during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He died of a heart attack in Spain while supervising the testing of the aborted ...

from to , when he was dropped after the team lost its sponsorship deals. Ryton returned to work for Barnard, who had briefly moved to work for Benetton but was now back at Ferrari. On this occasion, Ryton's job was slightly different, as he was put in charge of the team's drawing office at its

Maranello Maranello ( Modenese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna in Northern Italy, 18 km from Modena, with a population of 17,504 as of 2017. It is known worldwide as the home of Ferrari and the Formula 1 rac ...

base. He remained in this position until mid-, when he accepted the position of Technical Director at the small

Forti Forti Corse, commonly known as Forti, was an Italian motor racing team chiefly known for its brief and unsuccessful involvement in Formula One in the mid-1990s. It was established in the late 1970s and competed in lower formulae for two decades ...

team. After working on the FG03 chassis, Ryton was left without a job when the team folded mid-season. However, he was soon appointed Head of Research and Development at the

Ligier Ligier (() is a French automobile and minibus maker created by former racing driver and rugby player Guy Ligier (1930–2015), specialized in the manufacturing of microcars. Ligier is best known for its involvement in the Formula 1 World Champ ...

team, which was bought by former F1 champion

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 Micha ...

soon afterwards and took his name. In , the Prost AP01's unreliable and heavy gearbox saw him fall from favour and he moved to Minardi. Ryton stayed at Minardi until the season-ending

Japanese Grand Prix The Japanese Grand Prix ( ja, 日本グランプリ, Nihon-guranpuri) is a motor racing event in the calendar of the Formula One World Championship. Historically, Japan has been one of the last races of the season, and as such the Japanese Gran ...

in , firstly as Chief Designer but latterly as a design consultant. Having left F1, Ryton now works as an independent consultant in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

References

* Living people 1948 births Ferrari people Formula One designers British motorsport people {{F1-bio-stub