Eghbal Hamidy (; born 1 August 1960) is an Iranian aerodynamic engineer. He was technical director and aerodynamics expert for several

Formula 1 Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

(F1) teams in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Career

Hamidy was one of the very few Iranian engineers working in F1. He graduated from

Imperial College Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a cultural district in South Kensington that included museums ...

in London, majoring in aeronautical engineering (undergraduate and post-graduate) and vehicle dynamics for his doctoral program in the late 1980s. He started his career in the Williams team in 1989 as an aerodynamicist. During his time at Williams he worked with Patrick Head, Enrique Scalabroni and Adrian Newey. He stayed in the team until the end of 1995. His best achievement was when he helped

Nigel Mansell Nigel Ernest James Mansell (; born 8 August 1953) is a British former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Mansell won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Williams, and won 31 Grands Prix across 15 seasons ...

(1992),

Alain Prost Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "the Professor", Prost won four Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles and� ...

(1993) and

Damon Hill Damon Graham Devereux Hill (born 17 September 1960) is an English former racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to . Hill won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Williams, and won 22 Grands Prix acr ...

(1996) to World Champion titles and the Williams team to constructor's Championship Titles in 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1996. In 1996 he left for the Stewart GP team. At Stewart GP, Hamidy served as chief Aerodynamicist working with Alan Jenkins. At that time, he was known as an expert in designing great cars on wet tracks, because every time there was a rainy race condition, Stewart GP's appearance was always stunning. His first car at Stewart GP, SF01, came second in Monaco Grand Prix piloted by Rubens Barrichello. Even when he left for Arrows in 1999, Hamidy's influence was felt on Stewart.

Rubens Barrichello Rubens Gonçalves Barrichello (; born 23 May 1972) is a Brazilian racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster, who competes in the Stock Car Pro Series for Full Time Sports. Nicknamed "Rubinho" (), Barrichello competed in Formula One fro ...

recorded pole in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Johnny Herbert John Paul Herbert (born 25 June 1964) is a British former racing driver and broadcaster. He competed in Formula One from to , winning three Formula One Grands Prix over a 12-season career. In endurance racing, Herbert won the 24 Hours of Le ...

recorded victory at the

Nürburgring The () is a 150,000-person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long configuration, built in the 1920s ...

. In the team led by

Tom Walkinshaw Thomas Dobbie Thomson Walkinshaw (14 August 1946 – 12 December 2010) was a British racing car driver from Scotland and the founder of the racing team Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR). He was also involved in professional rugby union, as owner of ...

, Hamidy earned the reputation as an expert in designing fast cars on the low-downforce style circuit. This is evidenced by the speed of

Jos Verstappen Johannes Franciscus "Jos" Verstappen (; born 4 March 1972) is a Dutch racing and rally driver, who competes in the European Rally Championship as a privateer. Verstappen competed in Formula One between and . Born and raised in Dutch Limburg, ...

in the

2000 Austrian Grand Prix The 2000 Austrian Grand Prix (formally the XXIV Großer A1 Preis von Österreich) was a Formula One motor race held on 16 July 2000, at the A1-Ring near Spielberg, Styria, Austria, attended by 85,112 spectators. The 24th Austrian Grand Prix ...

, the

2000 Italian Grand Prix The 2000 Italian Grand Prix (formally the LXXI Gran Premio Campari d'Italia) was a Formula One motor race held on 10 September 2000, at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza near Monza, Lombardy, Italy, in front of an estimated 110,000 to 120,000 ...

, and finally the

2001 Austrian Grand Prix The 2001 Austrian Grand Prix (officially the Grosser A1 Preis von Österreich 2001) was a Formula One motor race held before 76,000 spectators at the A1-Ring in Spielberg, Styria, Austria on 13 May 2001. It was the sixth round of the 2001 Formu ...

. He moved to

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

in early 2001. He helped with the development of Jordan's EJ11 and EJ12. Unfortunately his spell at the Jordan team was not successful and led to his departure in early 2002. Currently, he owns an engineering consultancy business, named EHE Limited.

References

External links

Eghbal Hamidy - Jordan information site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamidy, Eghbal 1960 births Living people Alumni of Imperial College London Alumni of University College London Formula One designers Iranian emigrants to England Iranian engineers People from Shiraz