Neil Martin is an English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 Formula One

Formula One

Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

 strategist

Strategist

A design strategist has the ability to combine the innovative, perceptive and holistic insights of a designer with the pragmatic and systemic skills of a planner to guide strategic direction in context of business needs, brand intent, design quality and customer values...

, the current head of the Operations Research department at Scuderia Ferrari

Scuderia Ferrari

Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....

.

After studying mathematics at the University of Southampton

University of Southampton

The University of Southampton is a British public university located in the city of Southampton, England, a member of the Russell Group. The origins of the university can be dated back to the founding of the Hartley Institution in 1862 by Henry Robertson Hartley. In 1902, the Institution developed...

, he wrote his MSc paper on risk assessment. Originally intending to seek a job in the City of London

City of London

The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...

, he showed the paper to McLaren Racing, who offered him a job.

Martin was responsible at McLaren for the direction of strategic development of technology and race strategies, developing software to provide instant access to data on specific car component while on track. His role came to public prominence at the 2005 Monaco Grand Prix

2005 Monaco Grand Prix

The 2005 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on May 19– May 22, 2005 at the Circuit de Monaco. This was the first Monaco Grand Prix held after the death of Prince Rainier III...

, when he helped Kimi Räikkönen

Kimi Räikkönen

Kimi Matias Räikkönen , nicknamed Iceman, is a Finnish racing driver, who will drive in Formula One for Lotus in . After nine seasons racing in Formula One, in which he took the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, he competed in the World Rally Championship from 2009-2011.Räikkönen entered...

 win the race by making a key strategic call during a safety car

Safety car

In motorsport, a safety car or pace car is a car which limits the speed of competing cars on a racetrack in the case of a caution period such as an obstruction on the track. During a caution period the safety car enters the track ahead of the leader...

 incident, by sending an eMail from McLaren's Woking

Woking

Woking is a large town and civil parish that shares its name with the surrounding local government district, located in the west of Surrey, UK. It is part of the Greater London Urban Area and the London commuter belt, with frequent trains and a journey time of 24 minutes to Waterloo station....

 base to stay out rather than pit.

Headhunted by Red Bull Racing

Red Bull Racing

Red Bull Racing is a Formula One racing team based in Milton Keynes, England which currently holds an Austrian licence. It is, along with Scuderia Toro Rosso, one of two teams owned by beverage company Red Bull GmbH. The team have won two Constructors' Championship titles, in and , becoming the...

 in May 2005, he joined the team as Chief Strategist in January 2006.

In January 2011, after Ferrari made a poor strategic call during the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

The 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 14 November 2010 at the Yas Marina Circuit on Yas Island, an island on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. It was the 19th and last round of the 2010 Formula One season...

 which lost driver Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso Díaz is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a two-time World Champion, who is currently racing for Ferrari....

 the 2010 World Championship to Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel

Sebastian Vettel

Sebastian Vettel is a German Formula One racing driver, currently driving for Red Bull Racing. He is the current World Champion, having won the championship in and ....

, Martin joined Ferrari alongside ex-McLaren engineer Pat Fry

Pat Fry

Pat Fry is an English motor racing engineer, presently the "technical director for the chassis division" of the Scuderia Ferrari Formula One team .-Early career:Fry was born in Shepperton, Surrey, England...

in a revamped Ferrari race operations and engineering team.