THE world of Formula 1 racing is in mourning following the death of Brian Hart, whose engine building company was based in Harlow.

Having enjoyed a relatively successful career as a driver, Hart moved into engine building in the late 1960s when he prepared Ford engines for Formula 2 cars.

He started his company – Brian Hart Ltd – in 1969, operating from premises at Pinnacles.

After Ford withdrew from Formula 2 he began developing his own engines and eventually teamed up with the Toleman team. The collaboration proved a great success and both team and engine provider moved up into Formula 1 in 1981.

After a tough couple of seasons competing against better-funded outfits, Toleman enjoyed a breakthrough in 1983 with Hart’s 415T turbo engine powering them to several points finishes. The following season the late Ayrton Senna scored both his and Hart’s first podium finish in Monaco.

With the major outfits using their more lavish budgets to develop turbo engines, Hart scaled back his company’s F1 involvement, with the last Hart turbo running in early 1986.

It wasn’t until 1993 that Hart power returned to the F1 grid, with Eddie Jordan’s team running the 3.5-litre 1035 V10. When Jordan switched to Peugeot power in 1995, Hart did a deal to provide units for Footwork and scored what turned out to be their final podium in 1995’s season-ending race in Australia.

One more season with Footwork in 1996 was followed by a final, unsuccessful campaign with Minardi in 1997 before the company was acquired by Tom Walkinshaw Racing.

Mr Hart died at the age of 77 after a short illness.