Eghbal Hamidy

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takagi_for_the_win
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Eghbal Hamidy

Post by takagi_for_the_win »

First of all- sorry if this should be in EvdP forum, I'm not 100% sure where it should go.

So anyway, the other day, I was going through some of my old F1 books, and in my F1 2002 season preview, I found a small feature on Eghbal Hamidy's move to Jordan, and how he was a highly-rated technical director.

For those who don't know who Hamidy is, he earned his spurs at Williams in the late 80's to mid 90's, before joining Stewart, most notably penning the SF-03, before joining Arrows for the 2000 season, before joining Jordan sometime in 2001.

Thus, looking at his work, it is clear that Hamidy has/had some clear talent. Intrigued by the fact I hadn't heard of him before, I promptly began a thorough (10 minute) google search, which revealed...nothing past 2001. What happened? Did he vanish off the face of the earth or what? Does anyone have any information?
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Monstrobolaxa
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Re: Eghbal Hamidy

Post by Monstrobolaxa »

He got tired of Formula 1 made enough money there and "retired". His works as an estate agent/speculator, buying cheap and selling at a higher price.
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Re: Eghbal Hamidy

Post by DemocalypseNow »

He was sacked by Jordan after the 2002 Australian GP and replaced by Henri Durand. He didn't work in F1 again after that.
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Re: Eghbal Hamidy

Post by takagi_for_the_win »

Stramala wrote:He was sacked by Jordan after the 2002 Australian GP and replaced by Henri Durand. He didn't work in F1 again after that.


He was sacked after one race? Thats harsh, to say the least, given that Durand was probably no better than Hamidy. I wonder how Jordan would have fared later on if he hadn't been sacked

Monstrobolaxa wrote:He got tired of Formula 1 made enough money there and "retired". His works as an estate agent/speculator, buying cheap and selling at a higher price.


If thats true, what a waste of his talent! :evil:
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ibsey
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Re: Eghbal Hamidy

Post by ibsey »

takagi_for_the_win wrote:
Stramala wrote:He was sacked by Jordan after the 2002 Australian GP and replaced by Henri Durand. He didn't work in F1 again after that.


He was sacked after one race? Thats harsh, to say the least, given that Durand was probably no better than Hamidy. I wonder how Jordan would have fared later on if he hadn't been sacked



IIRC Jordan axed about 250 staff members early in the 2002 season as a cost cutting measure. In short in the years previously Jordan had tried to run before they could walk, so had to therefore had to downsize when they could no longer afford their staff salary bills. I remember EJ was interviewed on that very subject on ITV's pre race coverage before the 2002 Spainish GP. So, i'm just guessing on this, but perhaps Hamidy was a victim of Jordan having to make 250 staff members redundant?

EDIT; I remember Murray Walker also used to rave about him as well in 2000 / 2001. Especially after he Eghbal Hamidy had designed the 'slippery' Arrows, which consistently used to set the fastest speeds along the straights despite only having the Supertec engines (IIRC which were based on the 1997 Renualt engines...so 3 years old by then).
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AndreaModa
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Re: Eghbal Hamidy

Post by AndreaModa »

I can't remember when Faustus worked for Arrows, but would he know anything about Hamidy?
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ibsey
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Re: Eghbal Hamidy

Post by ibsey »

AndreaModa wrote:I can't remember when Faustus worked for Arrows, but would he know anything about Hamidy?


IIRC I believe Faustus started working for Arrows around Spain / Monaco 2002. So well after Hamidy left Arrows. But you never know what inside knowledge Faustus may have on him...

EDIT; BTW AndreaModa I remember the ITV crew showed that Irvine banner (that is currently your avatar) during their coverage of the 2002 Spainish GP as well & joked about it on air as well. Funny stuff to an otherwise pretty dull race weekend.
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Re: Eghbal Hamidy

Post by David AGS »

As a 'younger' fan learning about technical stuff in F1, when he got technical director, he mainly used a design with the airbox with an upside down 'U' and a little kink on the base. Im sure someone will post an image.

More info:

http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/cref-hamegb.html
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AndreaModa
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Re: Eghbal Hamidy

Post by AndreaModa »

ibsey wrote:EDIT; BTW AndreaModa I remember the ITV crew showed that Irvine banner (that is currently your avatar) during their coverage of the 2002 Spainish GP as well & joked about it on air as well. Funny stuff to an otherwise pretty dull race weekend.


Yeah, it even made a story on F1.com which is where I got the picture from! :lol:
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Re: Eghbal Hamidy

Post by Svenko Wankerov »

I remember he had a ton of hype back around 2000 for his Arrows A21 design. That car was tearing up speed traps even though it had the underpowered Supertec. The problem that the car generated downforce about as well as the DRS and that the fuel tank was smaller than ones you would find in most go-karts.
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Re: Eghbal Hamidy

Post by Faustus »

Svenko Wankerov wrote:I remember he had a ton of hype back around 2000 for his Arrows A21 design. That car was tearing up speed traps even though it had the underpowered Supertec. The problem that the car generated downforce about as well as the DRS and that the fuel tank was smaller than ones you would find in most go-karts.


And the small matter that Arrows always ran with less downforce than other teams, especially at the high-speed tracks. The profile on the rear wing main plane in Canada 2002 was pretty much neutral. The idea was that if we can be quicker and stay ahead in the straights, we can hold them up in the corners.
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Re: Eghbal Hamidy

Post by takagi_for_the_win »

Svenko Wankerov wrote:I remember he had a ton of hype back around 2000 for his Arrows A21 design. That car was tearing up speed traps even though it had the underpowered Supertec. The problem that the car generated downforce about as well as the DRS and that the fuel tank was smaller than ones you would find in most go-karts.


Apparently, Jos Verstappen, upon seeing the car, said it was pretty much the previuos years Arrows...
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Re: Eghbal Hamidy

Post by Faustus »

takagi_for_the_win wrote:
Svenko Wankerov wrote:I remember he had a ton of hype back around 2000 for his Arrows A21 design. That car was tearing up speed traps even though it had the underpowered Supertec. The problem that the car generated downforce about as well as the DRS and that the fuel tank was smaller than ones you would find in most go-karts.


Apparently, Jos Verstappen, upon seeing the car, said it was pretty much the previuos years Arrows...


Wasn't that what he said about the 2001 A22 car?
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Re: Eghbal Hamidy

Post by takagi_for_the_win »

Faustus wrote:
takagi_for_the_win wrote:
Svenko Wankerov wrote:I remember he had a ton of hype back around 2000 for his Arrows A21 design. That car was tearing up speed traps even though it had the underpowered Supertec. The problem that the car generated downforce about as well as the DRS and that the fuel tank was smaller than ones you would find in most go-karts.


Apparently, Jos Verstappen, upon seeing the car, said it was pretty much the previuos years Arrows...


Wasn't that what he said about the 2001 A22 car?


I misquoted Jos :oops: He was talking about the A21, and compared it to the 1999 Stewart

Having looked at them, there are some serious similarities.

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