Samuel David Michael (born 29 April 1971) is an Australianmotor sports engineer and designer, who held senior positions withFormula One constructorsWilliams andMcLaren. He is currently employed bySupercar teamTriple Eight Race Engineering.

Michael was born inWestern Australia and grew up inCanberra.^[1] After a brief stint working onNeal Bates'Toyota Celica GT-Four rally car, Michael studiedmechanical engineering at theUniversity of New South Wales with a thesis ondata acquisition systems for racing cars. During his studies, Greg Siddle employed Michael on a part-time basis working onMark Larkham'sFormula Holden, so that Michael could continue his studies.^[2][3]

Michael was recruited by UK-basedLotus in 1993. After Team Lotus went bankrupt in 1994Gary Anderson, the chief designer atJordan Grand Prix, took Michael on to establish the team'sresearch and development department. Michael spent two years working in the Jordan factory on data acquisition, and installed a seven-post rig for simulatingsuspension movement and designing anactive differential.^[2]

In 1997, Michael joined the Jordan test team. In 1998 he was promoted torace engineer forRalf Schumacher. When the German departed to go to Williams in 1999, Michael inheritedHeinz-Harald Frentzen. His partnership with Frentzen was successful, resulting in a win at theFrench Grand Prix atCircuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, and then again at theItalian Grand Prix atMonza.^[1]

In 2001,Sir Frank Williams brought Michael to Williams as Senior Operations Engineer. He took over the responsibility of managing the engineers at races and tests. In May 2004, Michael was promoted toTechnical Director of Williams, leavingPatrick Head to focus on engineering strategy.^[2]

In late 2011, Michael joined McLaren as Sporting Director, becoming part of the senior technical management team.^[4][5]

At McLaren, Michael came under pressure following a series of failures during pitstops, during the introduction of new equipment and procedures.^[6]Martin Whitmarsh defended Michael's position,^[7] and shortly afterwards the changes began to pay off.^[8]

At the end of 2014 Michael returned to Australia, after resigning from McLaren earlier that year.^[9] In mid-2016, Michael joined the Australian Institute for Motor Sport Safety board focusing on safety in motor sport.^[10] In late 2016, Michael took on a part-time mentoring role withTriple Eight Race Engineering afterLudo Lacroix moved toDJR Team Penske.^[11][12]

Michael was invited to become a director of the Australian Institute for Motor Sport Safety in 2016 and worked in a close involvement with safety matters.^[13]

In 2017, Michael became an advisor to the FIA’s Research Working Group, a body of engineers that among other tasks reviews new safety devices.^[14]

He has a seat on the FIA Single Seater Commission.^[15] In 2022, Michael was the President of the FIA Safety Commission.^[16][17][18]

Michael co-founded Ox Mountain in 2015 and currently is the CEO. Ox Mountain is a machine learning company to the optimisation of maintenance in capital intensive industries, such as mining and rail.^[19]

He is a Adjunct Senior Lecturer^[20] of Economic, Business School at the University of Western Australia.^[21]

• 1971 births
• Living people
• University of New South Wales alumni
• Australian motorsport people
• Formula One designers
• Lotus Cars
• McLaren people
• Williams Grand Prix Engineering

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