Former Williams F1 aerodynamicist Terzi dies in car crash – Motorsport. com

Terzi, who was born within Italy, was best known in F1 circles for having been the inspiration for the famous ‘walrus nose’ that appeared on the Williams FW26 in 2004.

Having studied aerodynamics in Italy and the particular UK, Terzi’s F1 career began at Ferrari , where she worked under Rory Byrne until 2001.

After making a good impression, the girl moved to Williams in order to become the team’s chief aerodynamicist, and played a key role in the team’s race-winning push during its engine partnership with German manufacturer BMW.

She most famously helped the particular team cause a stir ahead of the 2004 season when the FW26 has been revealed along with its unique ‘Walrus nose’ concept.

The idea was for Williams to shorten the nose as much as possible within a bid to maximise downforce plus minimise drag – with the twin ‘tusk’ pylons sloping down to act as an attachment for the front wing.

While Williams had been convinced upon the benefits of the design, the FW26 proved tricky to set up and, by the Hungarian Grand Prix, the team switched to a more conventional nasal area configuration.

Marc Gene, BMW Williams FW26

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

Williams ended the season in better shape, along with Juan Pablo Montoya taking a famous pole position at the Italian Grand Prix plus winning the final race of the campaign in Brazil.

After the challenging time of year in which rival Ferrari’s F2004 proved dominant, Terzi left the particular Grove-based squad and was replaced simply by Loic Bigois.

She moved away from F1 and took on a role at Bentley as head of the rules of aerodynamics.

More recently the lady devoted times towards academic ventures. Terzi was employed as assistant professor by the Delft University of Technology, which is the Netherlands’ oldest and largest public technical university. She worked in the Faculty associated with Aerospace Engineering.

One of her ongoing projects there was the particular Superbus, a fully electrical vehicle made of composite materials that featured ‘gull wing’ doors and could carry up to 23 passengers.

Last year she has been appointed because full professor in the Australian National University in Canberra, where she was planning to move once COVID travel restrictions had eased.