Nikolas Tombazis

Nikolas Tombazis (; born 22 April 1968) is a racing car designer who is the single seater director of the FIA since 2023. Previously, he was the FIA head of single seater technical matters from 2018 to 2023. During his Formula One career, which began in 1992, he worked for Benetton (1992–1997), Ferrari (1997–2004; 2006–2014), McLaren (2004–2006), and Manor (2016–2017), with significant success at both Benetton and Ferrari as part of the Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne, and Michael Schumacher era.

In November 1992, Tombazis became an aerodynamicist at Benetton and was promoted to head of aerodynamics in 1994. Three years later, he moved to Ferrari, where he became head of aerodynamics and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in 1998. In 2004, Tombazis returned to England to work with McLaren, where he started working in a similar position and later being promoted to head of planning. In March 2006, he was back at Ferrari, this time as chief designer. He left Ferrari in December 2014. In January 2016, he became the chief aerodynamicist of Manor, which was ultimately closed down in March 2017 before the start of the new season. Subsequently, Tombazis began working for the FIA, overseeing the 2022 and 2026 Formula One regulations.

Overall, Tombazis helped the teams win seven Drivers' Championships (six of Schumacher's seven Drivers' titles and Kimi Räikkönen's sole Drivers' title in 2007, which is also the last Drivers' champion for Ferrari as of 2026) and eight Constructors' Championships (one with Benetton in 1995 and seven with Ferrari from 1999–2003 and 2007–2008). His championship-winning cars won 84 races out of 151 Grands Prix (56.6%), obtained 69 pole positions, reached a podium finish 177 times, and had 75 fastest laps. This made Tombazis among the most successful Formula One aerodynamicists and designers.

Early life and education Tombazis was born on 22 April 1968 in Athens, Greece, the son of well-known Greek architect Alexandros Tombazis, whose father was the Greek geologist and photographer N. A. Tombazi. He was expected to become an architect like his father; however, by the age of 10, he became passionate about Formula One during the years of the Lotus 78 and Lotus 79. When Tombazis joined Ferrari, the team was on the rise, having finished as the runner-up (narrowly ahead of Benetton) in 1996 thanks to Schumacher, and became the main challenger of Williams in 1997 and of McLaren in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

In 2000, Ferrari once again won the Constructors' title but also won with Schumacher the Drivers' title, the first since 1979, and as a result Tombazis later described this as the "real special moment" and said the satisfaction was something that "cannot be explained". and was promoted in April 2005 to the role of director of vehicle projects, which de facto made him the team's chief designer.

Return to Ferrari which ultimately proved disappointing as Alonso was able to lead the championship in both 2010 and 2012, despite the 2011–2012 cars only winning three races in total during this period, and ultimately took the inferior machinery to the last round twice (2010 and 2012) but lost both times. the F14 T was among Ferrari's worst Formula One cars, (The F14 T was the first Ferrari car since 1993 with the Ferrari F93A to have failed to achieve at least one race win as it was badly designed (notably causing both understeer and oversteer) and underpowered, with Alonso's performance compared to those of Senna in 1993 and Schumacher in 1996.) Ferrari finished fourth in the Constructors' Championship thanks to Alonso's 14 top six finishes compared to 2 for Räikkönen and 2 podiums to 0, almost winning the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix. He left Ferrari on 16 December 2014, as did other key personnel, such as Pat Fry, leading the media to spoke of a revolution within Ferrari. In an August 2014 interview with Leo Turrini, Costa was critical of Tombazsis when he spoke of his own dismissal in May 2011. Costa, who joined Mercedes and was a key designer of the highly successful 2014–2018 Mercedes era that ultimately broke the 1999–2004 Ferrari streak in 2020 and further extended it in 2021, said that he was told he was "the one who was stifling the Greek designer's creativity" and rhetorically asked: "After unleashing his imagination, the results are there for all to see, right?" including that of Alonso, Stefano Domenicali, and Luca di Montezemolo, stating that he did not work much on the F14 T and worked more on its successor, the SF15-T, which was significantly more competitive (it won three races, the only team other than the dominant Mercedes to do so, and Sebastian Vettel was the runner-up when Hamilton won the title, before Nico Rosberg rebounded to second place in the final rounds), and thus he argued that his release appeared to be illogical, making him out as the scapegoat. and is credited for the dominance of Ferrari in the early 2000s. He helped to develop the 2016 car, significantly improving but only obtaining one point at the 2016 Austrian Grand Prix. As a result, he oversaw the regulations that brought back the ground effect to Formula One, with the objective of creating more overtakes, reducing dirty air and allowing the car behind to follow the car in front without losing much downforce, and reducing the impact of tyre wear, allowing the drivers to fight more freely. as well as the removal of removal of some aerodynamics solutions, such as bargeboard and turning vanes, which appeared in the 2010s. Moreover, Tombazis admitted that the failure of the regulations also rested in the appearance of porpoising, which was not fully predicted by the teams either and was only reduced in subsequent years, without disappearing. What would eventually become the 2026 regulations was first discussed in 2020 and was soon the object of controversies among the teams about both the new Formula One power unit, which would see parity between the internal combustion engine (based on sustainable fuel) and the electric engine (an issue that was reportedly raised by the then Red Bull team principal Christian Horner), and active aerodynamics. and the Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) system, which is not a balance of performance and is instead mean to help the teams significant behind in terms of engine power to catch up; according to Tombazis, the teams "still have to build the best engine to win" and the ADUO system is not going to "give three points to the guy behind you".

When the 2026 Formula One cars hit the track in the first three Grands Prix of the season, new issues emerged, including underwhelming qualifying, super clipping (the engine significantly slowing down, sometimes losing 25–37 mph or 40–60 km/h, at the end of a straight due to a lack of power when the electric battery is depleted), security issues related to the batteries causing the car to significantly slow down, and the general dissatisfaction of the drivers,

In interviews, Tombazis defended the 2026 regulations from increasing criticism, Some teams, such as Mercedes (the most competitive team under the new regulations) and Audi (a team, alongside Cadillac, that entered Formula One specifically due to the 2026 regulations, with Honda also returning due to the power units regulations) defended the new regulations, leading Tombazis to say that manufacturers should no longer be allowed to held the power to dictate certain rules; in reference to the 50–50 engine issue, he said that when the 2026 regulations were discussed in a significant different context (for example, it was prior to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and the global energy crisis), the manufacturers said that they would no longer build internal combustion engines and move towards electrification, which ultimately did not materialise. According to some observers, including higher-ups of Formula E, the FIA reportedly wanted a return to naturally-aspirated engines or a more traditional engine, such as a V8; however, the manufacturers (Mercedes, Honda, and Audi) pushed for the electric engine, with Tombazis stating that they had been too optimistic on its efficiency. By April 2026, modifications aimed to improve qualifying, reduce super clipping, and solve the security issues were adopted ahead of the 2026 Miami Grand Prix.

Personal life Tombazis lived in Castelnuovo Rangone in the province of Modena, Italy, with his wife and four children. He then moved to Lamia, Greece, for three years in order to complete the national service. Following this period, the Tombazis family moved to Geneva, Switzerland, where he still resides, for his position at the FIA.

Accomplishments Formula One World Championships No. Seasons Constructors' Champion Drivers' Champion Car Engine 1 1994 Formula One season Michael Schumacher B194 Ford 2 1995 Formula One season Benetton Michael Schumacher B195 Renault 3 1999 Formula One season Ferrari F399 Ferrari 4 2000 Formula One season Ferrari Michael Schumacher F1-2000 5 2001 Formula One season Ferrari Michael Schumacher F2001 6 2002 Formula One season Ferrari Michael Schumacher F2002 7 2003 Formula One season Ferrari Michael Schumacher F2003-GA 8 2007 Formula One season Ferrari Kimi Räikkönen F2007 9 2008 Formula One season Ferrari F2008

Championship-winning cars statistics