Hiroshi Imai (engineer)

Imai studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Tokyo, graduating with a master's degree in 1990. He joined Bridgestone the same year, beginning a career focused on tyre development and performance engineering. He began working in Formula One in 2003 and during Bridgestone's participation, he played a key role in the design, testing, and trackside optimisation of race tyres, contributing to multiple Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships achieved by Bridgestone-supplied teams.^[1]

Seeking a different challenge, Imai moved to McLaren in 2009 as a Principal Engineer, acting as a central liaison between the team and tyre suppliers while continuing to specialise in tyre behaviour and vehicle performance correlation.^[2] In 2017 he was appointed Chief Race Engineer, overseeing trackside engineering operations before being promoted to Director-level roles responsible for race engineering as well as tyres and brakes performance integration.^[3] He played a key role in McLaren's revival which culminated in the team winning the constructors championship in 2024.^[4]

In 2025, Imai returned to Bridgestone in a senior executive capacity as vice president and Senior Officer for motorsports tyre development and technology, where he leads the company's global motorsport technical strategy and performance research.^[5]