People

Jo Bauer

Jo Bauer became the FIA Formula 1 Technical Delegate at Grands Prix when he took over the job from Charlie Whiting in 1997. Bauer's job is to scrutineer all the F1 cars at races to ensure that they are within the regulations and he has a team of FIA and local assistants to help him at each race.Bauer is an automotive engineer who studied at the Rheinisch-Westfalische Technishe Hochschule in Aachen - one of Germany's top engineering schools. The same establishment produced Sauber's technical director Leo Ress. After finishing his Bachelor's degree Bauer went on to get a Masters while working with the automotive engineering firm FEV Motorentechnik GmbH.This is an independent global research and development company which works - usually on a confidential basis - for the major motor manufacturers around the world looking at new ideas and developing technology on a commercial basis. The organization has design bureaux in Auburn Hills, Michigan, Shanghai and in Aachen.It was Bauer's technical qualifications which led to him leaving the firm in 1992 to join Germany's national sporting authority, the Frankfurt-based Oberste Nationale Sportkommission, to be the head of its technical department. This also gave him a seat on the FIA Technical Commission and resulted in him being appointed as the Technical Delegate for the International Touring Car series in 1995. The ITC at the time featured a major battle between manufacturers including Alfa Romeo and Mercedes-Benz and there was a constant fight both on the race tracks and in the scrutineering bays. Bauer came through with flying colors and when the F1 Technical Delegate Charlie Whiting was appointed Race Director, it was Bauer who took over the difficult role of keeping up with the F1 engineers in their technical battles. He remains in that position.