Otmar Szafnauer

Otmar Szafnauer (born August, 13 1964) is the Chief Executive Officer and Team Principal of the Racing Point F1 Team.

Otmar Szafnauer
Szafnauer (far right) at the launch of the Force India 2018 car, the VJM11.
Born (1964-08-13) August 13, 1964
Romania
NationalityAmerican[1]
Alma materWayne State University
OccupationChief Executive Officer and Team Principal of Racing Point
AwardsUSF2000 Hall of Fame 2013

Szafnauer was born in Romania to an American father of German descent and a Romanian mother,[2] but moved to Detroit 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 has 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.

Awards and recognition
Szafnauer at the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix

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
1993 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 – –

[8]

References
  1. Spurgeon, Brad (November 16, 2012). "An Engineer's Passion for His Racing Work". The New York Times. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
  2. Americans in F1: Otmar Szafnauer, crash.net, September 20, 2002; accessed January 10, 2014
  3. "From Detroit to F1: Otmar Szafnauer is quietly making his mark as COO of Force India". Autoweek. Retrieved 2017-04-27.
  4. Executive Profile: Otmar Szafnauer, businessweek.com; accessed June 06, 2014
  5. Noble, Jonathan. "Otmar Szafnauer leaves Honda – F1 – Autosport". Autosport.com. Retrieved 2017-04-27.
  6. "Redirecting..." www.softpauer.com. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  7. "Latest News". Formula1.com. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  8. "OTMAR SZAFNAUER – OVERALL START/FINISH POSITIONS (CLASS POSITIONS NOT SHOWN)". USF2000. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
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