NEIL OATLEY

Design and Development Director, McLaren Racing

Neil Oatley graduated with an automotive engineering degree from Loughborough University in 1976. Late in 1977 Neil, who was born 12th June 1954, took a position in the drawing office of the Williams Formula 1 team as a design draughtsman, and during the seven years spent with the team he also assumed the role of race engineer. At the end of 1984 Neil was recruited to be the Joint Chief Designer of the Force Formula 1 team and two years later he joined McLaren. In 1988 Neil was promoted to Chief Designer, in charge of the design group for the following years' challenger, the MP4/5. Neil's current role as Design and Development Director has him overseeing the car specification and design programme, defining the specification for each race and supervising the build and approval processes for each new component.