Akio Haga

The so-called supercar boom in his childhood sparked his interest in automobiles, and the 1976 Japanese Grand Prix sparked his interest in Formula 1. There was a time when he wanted to be a motorcycle racer when he was in high school, but he abandoned that path after a serious accident and decided to become an engineer.

After graduating from Tokyo's Gakugei University Department of Mechanical Engineering, he joined TOM'S, a Japanese motorsports company. After gaining experience as an engineer and mechanic, in 1993, he participated in the design of the TOM'S 033F/034F chassis for Formula 3 (F3) of the time. After that, he moved to TOM'S GB, a UK subsidiary of the company, and continued to be involved in racing car development in the UK.

In 1998, when TOM'S GB was sold to Audi, Haga moved on to Jordan Grand Prix. After being involved in the design of the cooling system and exhaust system for the Jordan 199, Jordan gradually became involved in the design of the entire machine, later becoming Force India after stints with Midland and Spyker in 2007. Appointed as project lead (design director) in 2006. Haga became the first Japanese to hold a position equivalent to chief designer in an F1 constructor.[1][2]

Force India has a system where two design teams take turns designing machines for a year, so Haga, as the leader of one of them, will lead the development of the team's F1 cars, starting with the Force India VJM01.[3] He also serves as design director at Racing Point (later renamed Aston Martin), which inherited the team in mid-2018.