Willy Rampf | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 20, 1953 |
| Nationality |  German |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Years active | 1979–present |
Willy Rampf (born 20 June 1953) is a German car engineer who is currently a technical consultant for Williams Racing and was the former technical director of the Sauber Formula One team.
Rampf was born in Maria Thalheim, studied Automotive Engineering at the Munich University of Applied Sciences, and has worked as a development engineer for BMW since 1979. From 1989 to 1993, Rampf worked for BMW in South Africa, where he discovered Formula One.
The Sauber team made its debut in Formula One at the South African Grand Prix in 1993. Rampf was invited to the race, and half a year later he signed a contract to become race engineer for the Sauber team.
Rampf was the engineer of Sauber driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen for three years. In the 1997 season, he worked for drivers Nicola Larini, Norberto Fontana and Gianni Morbidelli. At the end of the 1997 season, Rampf returned to BMW, where he would lead the motorcycle project for the Dakar Rally. BMW motorcyclist Richard Sainct would win that race.
At the end of 1999, Rampf returned to Sauber, where he became technical director on 1 April 2000. He remained in that position when Sauber was taken over by BMW in 2005, and when the company withdrew its backing in 2009.
Rampf left his position at Sauber in April 2010, and was replaced by James Key. [1]
He joined Volkswagen Motorsport as technical director in August 2011, overseeing the design of the Polo R WRC. [2]
BMW has been involved in Formula One in a number of capacities since the inauguration of the World Drivers' Championship in 1950. The company entered occasional races in the 1950s and 1960s, before building the BMW M12/13 inline-four turbocharged engine in the 1980s. This engine was the result of a deal between BMW and Brabham, which resulted in the team's chassis being powered by BMW engines from 1982 until 1987, a period in which Nelson Piquet won the 1983 championship driving a Brabham BT52-BMW. BMW also supplied the M12/13 on a customer basis to the ATS, Arrows, Benetton and Ligier teams during this period, with various degrees of success. In 1988, Brabham temporarily withdrew from the sport and BMW withdrew its official backing from the engines, which were still used by the Arrows team under the Megatron badge. Turbocharged engines were banned by the revised Formula One Technical Regulations for 1989, rendering the M12/13 obsolete.
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Jörg Zander is a German Formula One car designer.
Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in 1993. Sauber operated under their own name from 1993 until 2005 and from 2011 until 2018. They were known as BMW Sauber from 2006 to 2010 and as Alfa Romeo F1 Team from 2019 to 2023 in a partnership deal with BMW and Alfa Romeo respectively. Sauber returned in 2024 as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, and is set to be the Audi works team from 2026 onwards, with the German outfit planning to acquire the Swiss team.
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The BMW Sauber F1.06, also simply known as the BMW F1.06, was the car with which the BMW Sauber team competed in the 2006 Formula One World Championship. It was driven by German Nick Heidfeld, who joined from Williams, and Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, who had spent one season with Sauber before it was bought by BMW. However, Villeneuve was replaced by third driver, Pole Robert Kubica, before the season finished. The year marked the first time that BMW had competed as a full team; previously it had only supplied engines. The chassis was designed by Willy Rampf, Jacky Eeckelaert and Seamus Mullarkey with the powertrain being designed by Heinz Paschen.
The BMW Sauber F1.07 is a Formula One single-seater racing car built by BMW Sauber for the 2007 Formula One World Championship. The chassis was designed by Willy Rampf, Walter Reidl, Jörg Zander and Willem Toet with the powertrain being designed by Heinz Paschen. The car was the first to have been designed fully by BMW, following their purchase of the former Sauber team. Initial pre-season testing was very positive, with many speculating that BMW could surprise some of the top teams with their performances when the season got underway.
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The Sauber C21 was the car with which the Sauber team competed in the 2002 Formula One World Championship. The car was driven by Nick Heidfeld, Felipe Massa and Heinz-Harald Frentzen.
The BMW Sauber F1.08 was the Formula One racing car with which the BMW Sauber team competed in the 2008 Formula One World Championship. The chassis was designed by Willy Rampf, Walter Reidl, Christoph Zimmermann and Willem Toet with the powertrain being designed by Markus Duesmann.
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The BMW Sauber F1.09 was the Formula One car with which the BMW Sauber team competed in the 2009 Formula One World Championship. The car was launched on 20 January 2009 at Circuit de Valencia in Spain. It was driven by Poland's Robert Kubica and Germany's Nick Heidfeld, both retained from 2008. The chassis was designed by Willy Rampf, Walter Reidl, Christoph Zimmermann and Willem Toet with the powertrain being designed by Markus Duesmann.
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The BMW E41 and P80 series is a family of naturally-aspirated Formula One racing engines, designed and developed by BMW, and introduced in 2000 in partnership with Williams, and continued through 2006, during their partnership with Sauber.
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