Aerodynamics expert who designed some neat cars, but his Simtek effort was rocked by Ratzenberger's death and Montermini's injury in quick succession. Later went into the toy and robotics industries and as a former business partner of Max Mosley, was involved with the FIA as technical consultant. Worked as a project manager for Honda in ALMS, and the LMS, but made a return to F1 after 10 years with Virgin. However, in 2011, he left the team and returned to his design company, Wirth Research, although he remains linked to the sport through his design work, more recently in the Formula E series and from 2019 onwards, the LMP1 category in the World Endurance Championship. He has also been involved in touring car design work.With the advent of coronavirus, Wirth has become more high-profile due to nature of his research, which was - and still is - advising supermarkets and food processing companies on how to manage their airflow.

Biography last updated 29 Aug 2020