Nick Wirth
Nicholas John Peter Wirth (born 26 March 1966) is an automotive engineer and the founder and owner of Wirth Research. He is also the former owner of the Simtek Formula One team, a former aerodynamicist at March and former technical director at the Benetton, and Virgin Racing teams.
Also recorded as Nicholas John Peter "Nick" Wirth · Nicholas John Peter Wirth
Nick Wirth

Pher38 · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Name
- Nick Wirth
- Birth Name
- Nicholas John Peter Wirth
- Born
- 26 March 1966
- Known for
- * Simtek
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Occupation
- engineer · designer
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Nicholas John Peter Wirth (born 26 March 1966) is an automotive engineer and the founder and owner of Wirth Research. He is also the former owner of the Simtek Formula One team, a former aerodynamicist at March and former technical director at the Benetton, and Virgin Racing teams.
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Note VALÉORINE
Nick Wirth (born 1966) is a British designer and engineer. The designer was born in London Borough of Merton.
Nick Wirth studied at Sevenoaks School. The designer worked for Wirth Research. Languages used include English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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Authority files
wikidata · Q173394 · wikipedia · Nick Wirth
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Nick Wirth • Birth Name — Nicholas John Peter Wirth • Born — 26 March 1966 • Known for — * Simtek • Virgin Racing • Employer — Wirth Research
Education and early life
Education and early life
Wirth attended Sevenoaks School from 1977 to 1984 and has B.Sc(Hons) in Mechanical Engineering (First Class) from University College London and is the youngest-ever Fellow of the Royal Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
Simtek
Simtek
From October 1993 to June 1995, Wirth was founder, owner, and technical director of Simtek Grand Prix, a Formula One racing team that first appeared in the 1994 Formula One season.
Virgin Racing
Virgin Racing
In 2009 Wirth Design teamed up with John Booth of Manor Motorsport to create a car for the 2010 Formula One season. Wirth was appointed the technical director of the team. Richard Branson's company Virgin became a title sponsor and the team was renamed Virgin Racing. The car that Wirth designed for use in the 2010 season, the Virgin VR-01, is the first Formula One racing car designed entirely with computational fluid dynamics with no use of traditional wind tunnels during the design or build process. Wirth also designed Virgin's second F1 car, the MVR-02, but its performance proved to be disappointing as it failed to close the gap to the leaders relative to the VR-01. In June 2011, Virgin announced that it had parted company with Wirth and abandoned its policy of only using CFD.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1966
Nick Wirth born at London Borough of Merton.
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q173394: Nick Wirth
Unverified · Wikidata
reference work
- “Nick Wirth”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Virgin Racing.
- 2.Feature Article - from CARS to CANINES: Designer Nick Wirth's High Tech Adventures - 10/01.
- 3.Heartland of Formula One. The Independent. 9 July 1995.
- 4.Wirth Research breaks new ground Teams Racecar Engineering.
- 5.Straw, Edd. Virgin parts company with Wirth. autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. 2011-06-01.
References
Citations
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authority record
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Further particulars
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Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
The authorities additionally record the headings Nicholas John Peter "Nick" Wirth and Nicholas John Peter Wirth. His recorded language was English.
Identity and origins
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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