Otmar Szafnauer
Otmar Szafnauer | |
---|---|
Born | |
Nationality | Romanian-American[1] |
Alma mater | Wayne State University University of Detroit |
Awards | USF2000 Hall of Fame 2013 |
Otmar Szafnauer (born 13 August 1964) is a Romanian-American engineer. He was formerly the chief executive officer and team principal of the Aston Martin F1 Team.
Szafnauer was born in Semlac, a small village in Western Romania to an American father of German descent and a Romanian mother [2] but moved to Detroit in the US when he was seven years old. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Wayne State University in Detroit[3] before completing a master's degree in business and finance from the University of Detroit.[3]
He joined the Ford Motor Company in 1986 and was appointed Programmes Manager for Ford in the United States. While working for Ford, he attended the Jim Russell Racing Driver School and started racing in Formula Ford in 1991. He left Ford in 1998 to become Operations Director at British American Racing in Formula One. After unsuccessful discussions with Jaguar Racing, he was hired by Honda on its return to Formula One in 2001, rising to Vice President of Honda Racing Developments and a member of the Management Board of the Honda F1 team.[4] After leaving Honda in 2008,[5] he founded Soft Pauer[6] which released the official Formula One Timing and Track Positioning Application[7] on the iPhone in June 2009.
Szafnauer joined Force India in October 2009 and played an integral role in the team's improved performance with the team going on an upward path, finishing seventh in 2010 and sixth in 2011, 2013 and 2014 before breaking into the top five in 2015 and achieving the team-best finish of fourth in 2016 and 2017. Szafnauer's efforts also played an instrumental role in the team securing a long-term agreement to use the Mercedes powertrain from the 2014 season onwards.
Szafnauer remained with Force India as they were sold in 2019 and became Aston Martin for the 2021 season, before leaving the team in January 2022.[8]
Awards and recognition[]
In 2013, Szafnauer was inducted into the USF2000 Hall of Fame in recognition of his racing achievements in motorsport over the last twenty years.
USF2000 results[]
USAC FF2000 Eastern Division Championship[]
Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Pos | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ATL | IRP | WGI | MDO | RAM 13 |
NHS | SHA1 | SHA2 | LRP | ??? | ??? |
USAC FF2000 National Championship results[]
Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pos | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1994 | IRP1 22 |
IRP2 19 |
500 | WGI 26 |
BFR 18 |
TOP | NHS 19 |
SHA1 19 |
SHA2 26 |
LRP | ??? | ??? |
USF2000 National Championship[]
Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pos | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1995 | PIR1 | PIR2 | 500 DNQ |
RIR | WGI | MDO1 | NHS | ATL1 | ATL2 | MDO1 | – | – |
References[]
- ^ Spurgeon, Brad (16 November 2012). "An Engineer's Passion for His Racing Work". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
- ^ Americans in F1: Otmar Szafnauer, crash.net, 20 September 2002; accessed 10 January 2014
- ^ a b "From Detroit to F1: Otmar Szafnauer is quietly making his mark as COO of Force India". Autoweek. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
- ^ "Executive Profile: Otmar Szafnauer". businessweek.com. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
- ^ Noble, Jonathan. "Otmar Szafnauer leaves Honda – F1". Autosport.com. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
- ^ "Soft Pauer: Home". www.softpauer.com. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
- ^ "Latest News". Formula1.com. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
- ^ "Aston Martin announce departure of Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer". Formula1. 5 January 2022. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Otmar Szafnauer – Overall Start/Finish Positions (Class Positions not shown)". USF2000. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
- 1964 births
- Living people
- People from Arad County
- American people of German descent
- Romanian emigrants to the United States
- Romanian motorsport people
- Businesspeople from Detroit
- University of Detroit Mercy alumni
- Formula One people
- American chief operating officers
- U.S. F2000 National Championship drivers
- Force India
- Aston Martin in Formula One
- Racing Point F1 Team