Peter Wright obituary: F1’s godfather of ground effect and active suspension

While at BRM, Wright began work on his own ‘wing-car’, an idea which eventually evolved into the Lotus 78.

He followed Rudd to Hethel where, along with former Brabham man Ralph Bellamy, they were charged by the mercurial Colin Chapman to investigate ground effect and turn it into an F1 reality.

“My feeling is although I came up with a number of things, innovations that Lotus followed successfully or unsuccessfully, they were always thanks to Colin,” Wright told Motor Sport.

“There’s no doubt at all that without him they wouldn’t have happened.

“He had an instinct for technology, what was worth pursuing and what wasn’t.

“And when he thought it was worth pursuing he’d throw the whole bloody company behind it.”

The 78 proved highly effective, recording seven grand prix wins in the hands of Mario Andretti, Ronnie Peterson and Gunnar Nilsson. It was superseded by the even more successful 79, which Andretti used to clinch his F1 title in 1978, the year Lotus took its last constructors’ crown too.

While what was supposed to be the ultimate expression of ground effect, the Lotus 80, ultimately failed due to porpoising issues, Wright also led another great innovation: active suspension.

Encouraged by Chapman, Wright’s active suspension system was first used on Nigel Mansell’s Lotus T92 in the first two races of 1983, with mixed results.

However, the project was canned in the wake of Chapman’s sudden death the previous year, as Peter Warr took over and attempted to steady the listing Team Lotus.

Wright would bring the active suspension idea back to the team in the 97T, raced by Ayrton Senna in 1985, but it was Williams that would come up with its most successful iteration in the early ‘90s, ten years after Wright was working on it.

“The potential was obviously enormous, and it was a technology that got totally wasted at Lotus,” he said.

“Williams did a simpler version, and ended up dominating F1. Team Lotus could have been there a long time before.”

Wright left Lotus when the grand prix team was shuttered in 1994, and would ultimately become highly influential as president of the FIA Safety Commission.

Under Wright, the HANS device, cockpits able to withstand 60g and far safer circuit design was developed, He was also involved in the F1 current engine regulations, the Drag Reduction System, and the Balance of Performance system used in sports cars.

As he stated in his memoirs, it was problem solving that always captivated Wright, even up to his off-grid, zero-emissions house he designed himself and lived in.

“I’m not actually interested in motor sport itself,” he said. “The only way I am motivated to try and win is by making the car the fastest.”

Motor Sport sends its sincere condolences to Peter Wright’s family and friends.