Neil Oatley (born 12 June 1954) is a design and development director 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, ...
teams.
Born in Britain, Oatley graduated from
Loughborough University
Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...
in 1976 with an automotive engineering degree. He worked briefly outside motor racing before joining the
Williams team in 1977. There he became one of many young engineers to have worked alongside
Patrick Head early in their careers before moving on to other organisations. Oatley worked as a
draughtsman A draughtsman (British spelling) or draftsman (American spelling) may refer to:
* An architectural drafter, who produced architectural drawings until the late 20th century
* An artist who produces drawings that rival or surpass their other types ...
before becoming a
race engineer for both
Clay Regazzoni and
Carlos Reutemann.
In 1984 Oatley was recruited by
Carl Haas to work on the
FORCE F1 project, but the results were poor, and the team withdrew from Formula One in .
Oatley joined the
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
team shortly after leaving FORCE and worked alongside
John Barnard in the design office. After
Gordon Murray
Ian Gordon Murray (born 18 June 1946 in Durban, Union of South Africa), is a South African-born British designer of Formula One racing cars and the McLaren F1 road car. He is the founder and CEO of Gordon Murray Automotive.
Early life
Born t ...
replaced Barnard as technical director, Oatley was put in charge of the design of the naturally aspirated car for 1989—
Steve Nichols
Stephen Anderson Nichols (born 20 February 1947 in Salt Lake City, Utah) is an American engineer who is best known as a car designer for many Formula One teams from the mid-1980s until .
Profile
Nichols graduated from the University of Utah in ...
having been appointed chief designer of the
1988 chassis—and remained chief designer after Murray moved to the new McLaren road car project. His cars secured titles in , , , and .
Oatley continued to work as chief designer at McLaren until 2003, when he became executive director of engineering.
References
Profile at grandprix.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oatley, Neil
Alumni of Loughborough University
Formula One designers
1954 births
Living people
McLaren people
English motorsport people
Williams Grand Prix Engineering