Nigel Stepney facts for kids

Nigel Stepney (born 14 November 1958 – died 2 May 2014) was a British mechanic. He worked for several teams in Formula One, which is a top level of car racing. He became the chief mechanic at Ferrari, a famous racing team. Later, he was involved in a big event known as the 2007 Formula One espionage controversy. Stepney was also a team manager for Sumo Power.

Career in Formula One

Nigel Stepney and Jean Todt at the 2005 Italian Grand Prix

Nigel Stepney started his career in Formula One in 1977. He worked as a mechanic for the Shadow team. After that, he moved to Team Lotus.

He then joined Benetton in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Later, he moved to Scuderia Ferrari with famous people like Michael Schumacher and Ross Brawn. At Ferrari, he became the Chief Mechanic. He was later promoted to Race and Test Technical Manager.

At the 2000 Spanish Grand Prix, Stepney was hurt during a pit stop. This happened when Michael Schumacher's car was signaled to leave too soon. Stepney was still removing the fuel hose. He injured his ankle during this incident. In 2007, he was promoted to Head of Performance Development. This meant he no longer had to attend races.

The 2007 Controversy

In 2007, Nigel Stepney was part of a big controversy. Ferrari made a complaint about his actions. The details of the complaint were not fully shared with the public. Stepney was accused of sharing information about Ferrari's car designs. He said he was innocent and that someone was trying to cause trouble for him.

On 3 July 2007, Ferrari ended his contract. Ferrari also took legal action against Stepney and a McLaren engineer named Mike Coughlan. Later, Honda F1 said that Stepney and Coughlan had asked them for jobs. McLaren, another racing team, gave the FIA (the racing authority) all their car design documents. This was to show they had not used any secret information.

After Ferrari and the Investigation

In January 2008, Stepney started working for Gigawave. This company makes camera systems for racing cars. He became their Director of Race Technologies.

The FIA also made a statement in March 2008. They asked racing teams to be careful if they wanted to hire Nigel Stepney. This was because of the earlier controversy. However, this advice was removed in February 2009. The FIA President said that Stepney and Coughlan had only played a small part in the incident. In August 2010, Stepney became the team manager for the Sumo Power team. This team raced in the FIA GT1 World Championship.

Outcome of the Controversy

In September 2010, Stepney was found responsible for his part in the information sharing incident. He received a sentence and a fine. However, he did not have to spend any time in prison.

Death

Nigel Stepney died on 2 May 2014. He was killed in a road accident on the M20 motorway in Ashford, Kent, United Kingdom. His vehicle was parked, and he was hit by a truck after entering the road. He died at the scene of the accident.

See also

In Spanish: Nigel Stepney para niños