David Salters is the president of Honda Performance Development (HPD), where he oversees Honda’s U.S. racing and engineering activities and works directly with the company’s racing teams and sponsors.
Salters joined Honda in 2015 as a chief engineer and engine technical leader at HPD. He became technical director at HPD in 2019.
Prior to joining HPD, Salters served as the head of engine development for the Ferrari Formula 1 program from 2006-2015, including its V8, V8 KERS (Kinetic Engine Recovery System) and V6 power units.
From 1999-2006, Salters was at Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines (formerly Ilmor Engineering). This included serving as head of F1 engine development from 2003-2006, team leader of F1 performance development from 2001-2003, and development engineer and member of the Ilmor trackside CART racing program from 1999-2001.
From 1995-1999, Salters was a development/design engineer for the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) program at Cosworth Racing Ltd.
He became president of Honda Performance Development on December 1, 2020.
Salters holds a Bachelor of Engineering with Honors in Mechanical Engineering from Cardiff University, a PhD from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology and was a research fellow at the University College London.
