 At the2010 Canadian Grand Prix | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  British |
| Born | (1973-11-28)28 November 1973 (age 52) Normanby,Middlesbrough, England |
| Sport | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sport | Formula One |
Robert Smedley (born 28 November 1973) is a British automotive engineer who works for theFormula One Group after many years working within theWilliams,Ferrari andJordan Formula One teams.[1][2][3]
Smedley was born and lived inNormanby, near Middlesbrough, until he was 18. He attended St Peter's School inSouth Bank andSt Mary's Sixth Form College. AtLoughborough University, he achieved a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Mechanical Engineering followed by a master's degree in Mechanical Engineering.[4][5]
After leaving university, Smedley started work withPilbeam Racing Designs, designingsuspension elements used on thePeugeot 406 campaigned in the1997 British Touring Car Championship. He went on to work onFormula 3000 cars andWilliams touring cars before moving toJordan Grand Prix at the start of 1999. At Jordan, he worked as adata acquisition engineer, responsible fortelemetry data used by the team's race engineer and for the 2002 and 2003 seasons became a track engineer for the team. Before the2004 Formula One season he moved toFerrari where he initially worked in the test team.
In the middle of the 2006 season, he replacedGabriele Delli Colli asFelipe Massa's race engineer. Almost immediately Massa's form improved; his previously common errors became less frequent,[6] and in August 2006, Massa took his first Formula Onepole position and victory at theTurkish Grand Prix. Smedley is noted for his very frank and occasionally humorous radio transmissions to Massa. This includes at the2009 Malaysian Grand Prix when he was heard clearly saying "Felipe baby, stay cool"[3] after Massa was complaining about not having a clear visor for the wet race which was being restarted.[7]
Following Massa's injury at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, Smedley carried on with the role of race engineer for stand-in driversLuca Badoer andGiancarlo Fisichella as they took over Massa's seat for the remainder of the2009 season. Smedley had previously worked with Fisichella at Jordan. Smedley was involved in an incident at the2010 German Grand Prix in which the Ferrari team were found to have breached regulations regardingteam orders. As Massa was in the lead of the race Smedley contacted him by radio and said "Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?", a thinly veiled instruction to allow Alonso to pass him to win, which Massa duly complied with. Following the pass on lap 49 Smedley added 'OK mate good lad, stick with him now, sorry.'[8] After the race Ferrari were fined $100,000 for the team orders, but the result was allowed to stand.
Smedley continued as Massa's race engineer at Ferrari and moved to Williams when Massa joined them from the 2014 season, heading the team's trackside operations. Smedley left Williams at the end of the 2018 season, one year after Massa had left Formula One.[9]
Smedley was awarded an honorary degree ("Doctor of Professional Studies") fromTeesside University in 2009.[10] In July 2015 he was also awarded an honorary Doctor of Technology fromLoughborough University in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Formula 1 and race engineering.[11]
In 2020, Smedley started a low-cost racing series (Total Karting, formerly named Electroheads Motorsport) using electric karts, aimed at making motorsport more accessible to beginners.[12][13]
Smedley is married to Lucy. They have two sons. They hold fundraising events on Teesside to support theStillbirth and Neonatal Death Society (SANDS) after the death of their daughter Minnie in 2007.[18] They are also patrons ofZoe's Place Baby Hospice, a charity for sick babies and young children.
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