Robert White (born 15 July 1965) is a

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 from England. As of 2021, he is the operations director at

Alpine F1 Team Alpine F1 Team, competing as BWT Alpine F1 Team, is a Formula One constructor which made its debut at the start of the 2021 Formula One World Championship. Formerly named Renault F1 Team and owned by the French automotive company Groupe Renault ...

Profile

White was born in

Camblesforth Camblesforth is a village and civil parish in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England. According to the 2001 Census the civil parish had a population of 1,526, increasing to 1,568 at the 2011 Census. The village is south of Selby and w ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

. After leaving school he worked for

Jaguar Cars Jaguar (, ) is the luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a British multinational car manufacturer with its headquarters in Whitley, Coventry, England. Jaguar Cars was the company that was responsible for the production of Jaguar cars ...

, who agreed to sponsor him to take a mechanical engineering course at

Southampton University , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

. White graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1987. Upon graduating, White responded to an advertisement from Cosworth Racing Limited and was hired as a development engineer for their

IndyCar INDYCAR, LLC, is an American-based auto racing sanctioning body for Indy car racing and other disciplines of open wheel car racing. The organization sanctions five racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with its centerpiece the Indianapolis ...

project, working under Chief Engineer Steve Miller. In 1990, White was promoted to the position of senior development engineer. In 1993 he moved to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

as track support manager for Cosworth USA. In 1997, White returned to England and worked as chief engineer to Cosworth's Formula One operations. In 2003, three years before Ford left Formula One and a year before Cosworth was sold to

Kevin Kalkhoven Kevin Oscar Newton Kalkhoven (1944 – 4 January 2022) was an Australian venture capitalist and auto racing magnate based in California. He served as CEO of JDS Uniphase and was an investor in Cosworth Group Holdings Limited, an automotive tech ...

, White left Cosworth. The following year he moved to the

Renault F1 The French automotive manufacturer Renault has been associated with Formula One as both team owner and engine manufacturer for various periods since 1977. In 1977, the company entered Formula One as a constructor, introducing the turbo engine ...

team to act as engine technical director alongside Bob Bell (chassis technical director). In April 2005, White was promoted to deputy managing director of the engine operations at

, following the departure of

Bernard Dudot Bernard Dudot () (born 30 January 1939) is a French engineer who was instrumental in the development of the turbo V6 and normally aspirated V10 engines of Formula One while working for Alpine and Renault. , he is Head of Engineering of the GP2 ...

. This meant moving to Renault's engine department located in

Viry-Châtillon Viry-Châtillon () is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Population Inhabitants of Viry-Châtillon are known as ''Castelvirois'' in French. Sports The town is home to the women's f ...

, France. At the time of his appointment, White did not speak French despite being required to lead a predominantly French workforce. He also retained his role as technical director. In 2016 he moved to Enstone to become director of operations at the team now known as

Alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

References

;Magazine *

F1 Racing ''GP Racing'', formerly ''F1 Racing'', is a monthly magazine focused on Formula One racing that launched in March 1996. Launch and development ''F1 Racing'' launch was the culmination of a year of preparation by UK publishers Haymarket Group, ...

Magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

(

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

version) - May 2006, page 62–65. ;Cite

External links

Rob White profile in Renault Sport F1
1965 births Alumni of the University of Southampton Formula One people People from Selby District Living people English motorsport people Renault people Sportspeople from Yorkshire {{F1-bio-stub