Codifying Engineering Knowledge in Motorsport

This paper considers the way in which engineering knowledge develops through a process of codification that facilitates innovation and imitation by competing firms. In a chronological case study of the development of ground-effect aerodynamics in Formula One racing, this paper reviews the way constructors, such as Lotus, Williams, Brabham and Ferrari, develop and respond to the innovation of ground-effect aerodynamics. We use the case study to generate a series of implications for the way in which firms manage and influence leading edge engineering knowledge.