Early life and career
Born in Southampton in December 1959, Willis spent time sailing on the Solent as a youngster, alongside a keen interest in Airfix model kits. He pursued a year in civil engineering before attending Cambridge University, where he earned an undergraduate degree in Engineering with a focus on mathematics. Although Cambridge offered him the opportunity to pursue a PhD, he declined and instead joined the National Physical Laboratory. He later completed his PhD externally with Exeter University, focusing on his work in hydrodynamics.
While working at the NPL in Oxfordshire, Willis was approached to join the design team of Peter de Savary's British America's Cup challenger, Blue Arrow. He spent the next three years designing and developing hull and keel designs for the team in preparation for the competition in San Diego.
In 1990, Willis moved into Formula One, joining the Leyton House team where he met and worked alongside Adrian Newey. This association led him to Williams after Newey was recruited by the British team. At Williams, Willis worked extensively on computational fluid dynamics, a relatively new concept in Formula One aerodynamics and engineering at the time. When Newey moved to rival McLaren in 1997, Willis was promoted, alongside Gavin Fisher, to become chief aerodynamicist under Patrick Head.
Willis joined BAR in late 2001, recruited by outgoing team principal Craig Pollock. David Richards joined the team for the 2002 campaign as Honda reaffirmed its commitment to engine supply. The team struggled during 2002 as changes were implemented, with Olivier Panis leaving ahead of 2003 to be replaced by British driver Jenson Button. The 2004 season proved to be the team's most successful under Willis's technical stewardship, finishing 2nd in the constructors' championship behind Ferrari. At the end of the season, Honda acquired a 45% stake in the team. While Richards moved on, Willis remained as Technical Director for BAR's final season in 2005.
Willis oversaw the development of the new Honda RA106, built to the revised Formula One specifications for the 2006 season. However, by late June, his role within the team became unclear when Honda appointed Shuhei Nakamoto as Senior Technical Director. Willis was instructed to cease attending races to focus on aerodynamics, which appeared to conflict with the appointment of Mariano Alperin to head the aerodynamics group using Honda's new full-size wind tunnel. Willis departed the team shortly thereafter.
On 17 July 2007, Willis was hired by Red Bull Racing as Technical Director, again working under Adrian Newey. His tenure coincided with the team's use of Renault customer engines and the transition from David Coulthard to Sebastian Vettel. He left Red Bull in July 2009 when his role was made redundant.
In early 2010, Willis joined the new entry Hispania Racing F1 Team. The season began poorly, with both cars starting from the pit lane in the opening round and Chandhok retiring on the first lap, leading to speculation Willis would leave the team by April. He was linked with a move to Force India but remained with Hispania. Willis voiced concerns about the car's design and was critical of the limited in-season testing available to the new teams. Hispania had a difficult debut season, scoring no points and finishing 11th in the constructors' championship. Willis became increasingly vocal about the Spanish team's lack of finance and resources, demanding improvements. By September 2011, Willis had left the team, to be replaced in 2012 by Toni Cuquerella, formerly of Seat's World Touring Car Championship team.
Willis signed a contract to join Mercedes as Technology Director in October 2011, working alongside Aldo Costa. Willis played a key role in the technical team that secured drivers' world championship titles for Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, and eight consecutive constructors' championship titles for Mercedes.
Return to sailing
In 2022, Willis joined INEOS Britannia as Chief Technical Director, supporting the team in the America's Cup yacht race.
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