Harvey Postlethwaite

Harvey Postlethwaite
Postlethwaite in the late 1990s
Born	(1944-03-04)4 March 1944 Barnet, England, UK
Died	15 April 1999(1999-04-15) (aged 55) Barcelona, Spain
Cause of death	Heart Attack
Nationality	British
Education	Royal Masonic School for Boys
Alma mater	University of Birmingham
Occupation	Aerodynamicist, engineer, Technical Director
Known for	Scuderia Ferrari, Tyrrell, Hesketh, Honda F1 project.
Spouse(s)	Cherry Postlethwaite
Children	2

Harvey Postlethwaite (4 March 1944 – 15 April 1999) was a British engineer and Technical Director of several Formula One teams during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He died of a heart attack in Spain while supervising the testing of the abortive Honda F1 project. He was married to Cherry and had two children, Ben and Amey.

After leaving the Royal Masonic School for Boys, Harvey Postlethwaite attended the University of Birmingham, England to study Mechanical Engineering and graduated, with a BSc and then a doctorate, during the 1960s. He was a keen follower of motor sport, competing in a Mallock at club level for a while. After graduation Postlethwaite joined ICI as a research scientist, but bored by this he soon began to pursue a career as a race car engineer, joining March in 1970, then aged just 26. Postlethwaite worked on the fledgling company's Formula 2 and Formula 3 cars but was lured away to join the Hesketh Formula One team who were a March customer. The Hesketh team was well known for an unconventional approach to Formula One—Postlethwaite was himself considered 'eccentric':

Working to modify and improve the novice team's March 731 chassis, Postlethwaite elevated the team into serious contention and the following year designed the team's car from scratch. 'Doc' Postlethwaite's 1974 Hesketh 308 secured a number of podium positions. The following year he further developed the car's unusual rubber spring suspension and saw his creation take victory at the Dutch Grand Prix in the hands of James Hunt.