Geoffrey Willis (born 23 December 1959) is a British engineer and the Director of Commercial Engineering at the Mercedes

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, ...

team. He was also the Technical Director of

Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing, also simply known as Red Bull or RBR and currently competing as Oracle Red Bull Racing, is a Formula One racing team, racing under an Austrian licence and based in the United Kingdom. It is one of two Formula One teams owned ...

team from 2007 to 2009 and Technical Director of

Hispania Racing HRT Formula 1 Team, formerly known as Campos Meta 1 and Hispania Racing, was a Spanish Formula One team founded by former driver Adrián Campos. It was sold to José Ramón Carabante before its debut in 2010, and then to investment group ...

from 2010 to 2011. In 1987 after a degree at Cambridge University in engineering, he was approached to join the design team of the Peter de Savary's British America's Cup challenge and he spent the next three years designing and developing hull and keel designs for the team in preparation for the competition in San Diego. Prior to working for

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...

, Willis was employed as chief

aerodynamicist Aerodynamics, from grc, ἀήρ ''aero'' (air) + grc, δυναμική (dynamics), is the study of the motion of air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dyn ...

by the Williams Formula One team and also worked as a consultant at the

Leyton House Leyton House Racing was a Formula One constructor that raced in the 1990 and 1991 seasons. It was, in essence, a rebranding of the March team which had returned to F1 in . Leyton House, a Japanese real estate company, had been the team's marque ...

team in the early 1990s. While at Leyton House, Willis met

Adrian Newey Adrian Martin Newey, (born 26 December 1958) is a British Formula One engineer. He is currently the chief technical officer of the Red Bull Racing F1 team. Newey has worked in both Formula One and IndyCar racing as a race engineer, aerodynami ...

and it was through this association that he joined Williams, after Newey was recruited by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

team. When Newey moved to rival McLaren in 1997, Willis was promoted, alongside Gavin Fisher, to take his role. Willis joined the British American Racing outfit in 2001, which was later bought by Honda in 2005. His status within the team became unclear as of 22 June 2006, following the appointment of

Shuhei Nakamoto Shuhei Nakamoto (, ''Nakamoto Shūhei''; born 29 April 1957) is the vice-president of Honda Racing Corporation. Career Nakamoto joined the Honda Racing Corporation in 1983 and his initial work was based around the corporation's motorcycle racing ...

as Senior Technical Director. Willis had been told to stop going to races in order to focus on aerodynamics, which appeared to conflict with the appointment of Mariano Alperin-Bruvera to head the aerodynamics group using Honda's new full-size wind tunnel. Willis eventually left the team later in the year. On 17 July 2007, Willis was hired by

as the team's Technical Director, once again under Newey. He left Red Bull in July 2009 for unknown reasons. Willis joined the new Hispania Racing F1 Team in March 2010. In September 2011 he left HRT, reportedly because the team had not assured him of necessary financial backing for designing the car for

2012 Formula One season The 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 66th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 63rd FIA Formula One World Championship, a motor racing series for Formula One cars, recognised by the Fédération Internatio ...

"Tech chief Willis leaves HRT"
18 October 2010, ITV.com and joined Mercedes as Technology director on 17 October 2011.

References

1959 births Living people Formula One designers Aerodynamicists Honda people Mercedes-Benz in Formula One Williams Grand Prix Engineering {{f1-bio-stub