F1 Ground Effects Pioneer Peter wright Dies Aged 79
Peter Wright, the engineer instrumental in pioneering ground-effect aerodynamics in Formula 1 with Team lotus, has died aged 79.Wright’s innovations revolutionized the sportโ in the โlate 1970s and early 1980s,delivering a period of unprecedented performance gains and fundamentally changing car design.
Wright’s work with Lotus, especially during the tenure of drivers Mario Andretti and Ayrton Senna, established ground effects โฃas a dominant force in F1. Heโ later โplayed a crucial role inโ improving safety standards following Ayrton Senna’s death in 1994, contributing too advancements still seen in โthe sport today.
Born in 1944, Wright joined Lotus in 1977 and quickly became a key figure in the โteam’s engineering department. He was the driving force โbehind the advancement of the Lotus 79, the car that truly unlocked the potential of ground-effect aerodynamics. By creating a low-pressure area under the car, the 79 generated immense downforce, dramatically increasing cornering speeds.Mario Andrettiโค drove the 79 to the 1978 World Championship, and the technology quickly became ubiquitous throughout the F1 grid.
Wright’s systemsโ evolved further with the Lotusโ 87, which featured active suspension.This allowed the ride height to be maintained consistently,maximizing the ground effect. Ayrton Senna won consecutive rounds in Monaco and โขDetroit driving the 87, demonstrating โคthe โsystem’s effectiveness. In โคDetroit,Senna didn’tโ need to pit for new tires,even while Nigel Mansell in his Williams did,and stillโ set the fastest lap.
When Team Lotus faced financial difficulties at the end of the decade, wright assisted team manager Peter Collins inโฃ keeping the team operational and served as technicalโฃ director โuntil its departure fromโ Formula 1 in 1994.
Following Senna’s โtragic death at Imola in 1994,FIA president Maxโ Mosley appointed Wright as a consultant to improve safety โขmeasures. Mosley believed that “a failure to apply basic science and โคscientificโ methods systematically had been a basic problem”โ and sought Wright’s engineering expertise.
Wright collaborated with professor Sid Watkins to develop new crash-testing methodologies, trackside safety precautions, and the adoption of the HANS tethers andโ halo safety device. He also โขinitiated research into fuel-efficient engine technologies and energy-recovery systems a decade before their introduction in the 2014 hybrid formula.
Beyond hisโข work in motorsport, Wright was โa technical journalist and passionateโ about aviation, both โpowered and unpowered. He recently publishedโข his memoir, How Did โคI Get Here?