Steve Nichols

Stephen Anderson Nichols (born 20 February 1947 in Salt Lake City, Utah)^[1] is an American engineer who is best known as a car designer for many Formula One teams from the mid-1980s until 2001.

Profile

Nichols graduated from the

While there have been claims that the design of the MP4/4 was based on the Brabham BT55 designed by Gordon Murray in 1986 and known for engine and gearbox issues, and indeed a number of articles give Murray the credit for designing the MP4/4, many at McLaren, including team manager Jo Ramírez, have pointed out that the MP4/4 was actually a development of the MP4/3 and that Murray, who became McLaren's Technical Director in 1987, had very little to do with the design of either of Nichols' cars. Commenting on the differences of the BT55 and MP4/4, Nichols remarked:

The only similarity is that they were both low. But if you look at anything else – the rules were different [and therefore] the fuel tank size was different, the drivetrain was different, different engine, different gearbox – everything.^[2]

Senior design engineer Matthew Jeffreys refuted Murray's claims of the BT55 being the basis of the MP4/4: "None of us were looking at BT55 drawings and we wouldn’t have wanted to be either – it was a disaster. Why would we want a McLaren to have copied a car that had huge problems and was also two years old?" Nichols suggested that Murray claimed credit for the MP4/4 in the hopes that its reputation would overshadow that of the BT55's issues:

Gordon had the Brabham BT55, which was by any standard a terrible car. He’s got that blot on his copy book. So now I think he feels the need to claim credit for the MP4/4, to expunge the BT55 off his record.^[2]

Murray denied Nichols' involvement in the MP4/4's development, stating in an interview with

In 2001 he joined Jaguar Racing as technical director.^[4] Although his success gave Jaguar their first podium in Monaco, Nichols left Jaguar in early 2002; he has not worked in Formula One since.^[5]

In retirement, Nichols works as a freelance design and technical consultant, based in the United Kingdom; he is also an amateur racing driver, racing a

External links

• Profile at grandprix.com