Claudio Lombardi (born 1942, in Alessandria) is a former

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, ...

engineer, best known for his work as team-manager at the Ferrari team during the early-1990s.

Career

Lombardi studied mechanical engineering at the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continu ...

. He was soon recruited by the Fiat research center, before designing engines for Lancia, which helped them in the

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...

and in

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is ...

. Lombardi became head of department for engineering at Lancia when

Cesare Fiorio Cesare Fiorio (born May 26, 1939) is a former Formula One sporting director for Ferrari, Ligier and Minardi, and former team manager of Lancia's factory World Rally Championship team. He is currently employed as a TV commentator. His son Alessan ...

moved to Ferrari. In 1989 Fiorio invited Lombardi to join him at Ferrari. When Fiorio left the company in 1991,

Luca di Montezemolo Luca Cordero di Montezemolo (; born 31 August 1947) is an Italian businessman, former Chairman of Ferrari, and formerly Chairman of Fiat S.p.A. and President of Confindustria and FIEG. He comes from an aristocratic family from the region of Pied ...

promoted Lombardi from engineer to team-manager to caretake the team until the arrival of

Jean Todt Jean Todt (; born 25 February 1946) is a French motor racing executive and former rally co-driver. He was previously director of Peugeot Talbot Sport and then Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1 team principal, before being appointed chief executive offi ...

in 1993. In 1993 Lombardi designed the Ferrari 12 cylinder engine. It would score the two final victories for an engine with such configuration at the 1994 German Grand Prix with

Gerhard Berger Gerhard Berger (born 27 August 1959) is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver. He competed in Formula One for 14 seasons, twice finishing 3rd overall in the championship ( and ), both times driving for Ferrari. He won ten Grands Prix, ach ...

and at the

1995 Canadian Grand Prix The 1995 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 11 June 1995 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal. It was the sixth race of the 1995 Formula One season. It produced the only Grand Prix victory for French driver Jean Ale ...

with

Jean Alesi Jean Alesi (born Giovanni Alesi, 11 June 1964) is a French professional racing driver of Italian origin. After successes in minor categories, notably winning the 1989 Formula 3000 Championship, his Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell ...

. In 1994 Lombardi was moved to the Ferrari GT programme. From 2000 to 2010 he acted as technical consultant for Aprilia, designing the

Aprilia RSV4 The Aprilia RSV4 is a super bike manufactured by Aprilia. The RSV4 is Aprilia's flagship model. Aprilia offers two models of the bike: the RSV4 Factory and RSV4 R limited edition (only 350). For 2016 it is offered in two models the RSV4 RR and ...

engine that would give

Max Biaggi Massimiliano "Max" Biaggi (; born 26 June 1971) is an Italian former professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer who achieved six World Championships. With four 250 cc road race titles and two in World Superbikes, he is one of only two ri ...

the Superbike World title in 2010.

References

Formula One engineers Formula One designers Formula One team principals Ferrari people Italian motorsport people Living people 1942 births {{f1-stub