Nikolas Tombazis (; born 22 April 1968 in) is a

racing car Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including ...

designer who has worked in

Formula One 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 ...

since 1992 for the Benetton,

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...

, and

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

teams.

Career

Born in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, Tombazis graduated with a degree in engineering in 1989 from Trinity College at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, followed by a PhD in aeronautical engineering from

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

in 1992. In November 1992, he became aerodynamicist at Benetton and was promoted to Head of Aerodynamics in 1994. Three years later, he moved to Ferrari, where he became head of aerodynamics and CFD in 1998. In 2004, Tombazis returned to England to work with McLaren, where he started working in a similar position and later being promoted to Head of Planning. In March 2006, he was back at Ferrari, this time as chief designer. He left Ferrari on 16 December 2014. On 15 January 2016, the

Manor Racing Manor Grand Prix Racing Limited, trading as Manor Racing MRT or Pertamina Manor Racing MRT, was a British Formula One racing team and constructor based in Banbury, Oxfordshire in the United Kingdom. The outfit competed from 2010 to 2016: the te ...

team appointed Tombazis as its chief aerodynamicist. Following the closure of Manor, he set up his own consultancy, called MAA, and has been a visiting professor of aerodynamics for Imperial College London. In 2018, Tombazis joined the FIA as its head of single-seater technical matters. In January 2023, Tombazis was placed in the role of single seater director before the 2023 Formula One season.

Positions held

*1992–1993:

Benetton Formula Benetton Formula Limited., commonly referred to simply as Benetton, was a Formula One constructor that participated from to . The team was owned by the Benetton family who run a worldwide chain of clothing stores. In 2000, the team was purcha ...

aerodynamicist *1993–1995: Benetton Formula chief aerodynamicist *1997:

Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari (; ), currently racing under Scuderia Ferrari HP, is the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer Ferrari and the racing team that competes in Formula One racing. The team is also known by the nickname "the Pranc ...

aerodynamicist *1998–2003: Scuderia Ferrari chief aerodynamicist *2004:

chief aerodynamicist *2005: McLaren project chief director *2006–2014: Scuderia Ferrari chief designer *2016-2017: Manor F1 Team chief aerodynamicist *2018–2023: FIA head of single seater technical matters *2023–present: FIA single seater director

Personal life

Tombazis lived in Castelnuovo Rangone in the

province of Modena The province of Modena () is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Modena. It has an area of and a total population of about 701,000 (2015). There are 48 ''comuni'' (: ''comune'') in th ...

, Italy, with his wife and four children. He then moved to Greece for three years. Following this period, the Tombazis family moved to

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, Switzerland, where he still resides, for his position at the FIA. He is the son of well-known Greek architect Alexandros Tombazis.

References

External links

Official formula1.com information about Nikolas Tombazis

Scuderia Ferrari Official Site information about Nikolas Tombazis

FerrariWorld Interview

1968 births Living people Engineers from Athens Ferrari people Aerodynamicists Formula One designers Greek motorsport people Alumni of Imperial College London Greek automobile designers Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Benetton Formula {{F1-bio-stub