The drivers of Formula 1's fast cars are frequently the center of attention as the sport prepares for another exciting season. But every good driver has a vital component that is integral to their performance: the racing engineer. These hidden heroes are responsible for converting driver feedback into useful insights and maintaining smooth communication between the driver and the team. They are the unsung heroes of the Formula One world.
Explore who collaborates with each driver and their responsibilities as we take a closer look at the world of Formula One race engineers.
Understanding the role of an F1 Race Engineer
F1 race engineers sit on the pit wall and are the main point of contact between the team and the driver during the race. They have to relay messages from the driver to the engineering team and vice versa. They also have to make sure that their drivers stay motivated while competing and provide feedback on how to improve their performance.
In order to ensure that information is transmitted accurately, a race engineer must also be able to clearly communicate with both the team and the driver. They also need to be knowledgeable about the engineering of a car.
After every session, the race engineer will review key data and driver feedback to identify areas for development for upcoming races.
Max Verstappen-Gianpiero Lambiase (Red Bull)
Gianpiero Lambiase, known as GP, has been Max Verstappen's race engineer since Verstappen joined Red Bull in 2016. Team principal Christian Horner has compared their relationship to that of an 'old married couple' because Lambiase is straightforward with Verstappen, especially after his on- track outbursts.
Lambiase began his Formula 1 career in 2005 with Jordan and later worked with several drivers before joining Red Bull in 2015. Despite being promoted to Head of Race Engineering at Red Bull in 2022, Lambiase continues to serve as Verstappen's race engineer.
Sergio Perez- Hugh Bird (Red Bull)
Hugh Bird has been Sergio Perez's senior race engineer since the 2021 F1 season. They've won five races together in three years and finished second in the 2023 drivers' world championship. Bird joined Formula 1 in 2012 with Red Bull Racing, initially as a simulation and analysis engineer.
He then became Max Verstappen's performance engineer in 2018, assisting him in achieving seven race wins and two third-place finishes in the 2019 and 2020 championships.
Perez has praised Bird, highlighting their strong partnership and ability to overcome challenges, which he discussed on the Talking Bulls podcast.
Lewis Hamilton-Peter Bonnington (Mercedes)
Peter Bonnington, often called Bono, is a well-known race engineer in Formula 1. He started his career with Jordan Grand Prix in 2004 as a data engineer. Later, he worked with Honda and became Jenson Button's performance engineer. Bonnington continued with the team when it became Brawn GP, supporting Button to win the 2009 championship.
He then joined Mercedes as Michael Schumacher's performance engineer and later transitioned to become Lewis Hamilton's senior race engineer in 2013. Bonnington played a crucial role in helping Hamilton secure six of his seven world championships. He's famous for the phrase “It's Hammer time.” It's unclear whether he will follow Hamilton to Ferrari in 2025.
George Russell-Marcus Dudley (Mercedes)
Marcus Dudley became George Russell's senior race engineer in early 2023, after serving as a performance engineer at Mercedes since 2013. Dudley has a long history with the Brackley-based team, filling in for Bonnington at certain races in 2019 and 2022.
His Formula 1 journey began in 2006 as a Mathematical Modeller, later transitioning to become a GP2 Performance Engineer at Arden International Motorsport. Before Mercedes, Dudley worked briefly with Marussia F1 Team as a Junior Performance Engineer.
Charles Leclerc-Xavier Marcos Padros (Ferrari)
Xavier Marcos Padros joined Ferrari in 2018 as a race engineer stationed at the factory. The following year, he moved to the track to work alongside Charles Leclerc. In 2010, he began his career as a racing engineer for the BNC Racing Team. Later, he worked for the HRT Formula 1 team.
Padros joined Williams Racing as Felipe Massa's performance engineer after HRT shut down in 2012. After serving as the chief race engineer for Richard Childress Racing in NASCAR for a brief period of time, Padros left Formula 1 to rejoin Ferrari.
Carlos Sainz- Riccardo Adami (Ferrari)
Since Carlos Sainz joined Ferrari in 2021, Riccardo Adami has been his race engineer. Adami joined Ferrari from Toro Rosso in 2015 and served as Sebastian Vettel's race engineer before taking on this position.
Adami started his Formula 1 career in 2002 with Minardi, where he worked in a number of capacities before becoming a racing engineer.
After Red Bull purchased the team in 2005, he stayed on and worked with drivers such as Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Vitantonio Liuzzi, and Sebastien Buemi. However, it has been revealed that Adami's tenure with Sainz will come to an end this year, as Lewis Hamilton is expected to join Ferrari in 2025.
Lando Norris – William Joseph (McLaren)
Having joined McLaren in 2010, Will Joseph has worked as race engineer for rookie driver Lando Norris from 2019. Joseph worked with drivers including Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez, Kevin Magnussen, and Fernando Alonso as a race team performance engineer before assuming this position. He started his motorsport career as a race engineer for Cobra Racing, working on their GT2 and GT3 vehicles in his first year of competition.
Oscar Piastri-Tom Stallard (McLaren)
Since joining McLaren in 2008, race engineer Tom Stallard has been a vital element of the team, working with drivers like Daniel Ricciardo, Jenson Button, Stoffel Vandoorne, and Carlos Sainz. He joined Oscar Piastri as his race engineer in 2023, the year he made his Formula 1 debut.
Stallard also has a remarkable athletic background, having competed for Team GB in rowing at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where they won a silver medal.
Fernando Alonso-Chris Cronin (Aston Martin)
As a race engineer, Chris Cronin has worked with several world champions, including Sebastian Vettel and, more recently, Fernando Alonso. He was a major contributor to Alonso's eight podium finishes in 2023—the most since 2013.
Cronin worked as Sergio Perez's race engineer before joining Vettel. He stresses the value of a racing engineer and driver developing a close relationship. Cronin emphasized the speed at which this relationship with one of Formula 1's most seasoned drivers, Alonso, formed.
Unlike younger drivers who might need more time to express their desires, Alonso was quite clear about what he wanted, which made the process easier.
Lance Stroll-Ben Mitchell (Aston Martin)
After working for the team as a senior performance engineer, Ben Michell assumed the role of race engineer for Lance Stroll in 2021. He started out in MotoGP as a race and development engineer for Dunlop before making the switch to Formula 1.
As a trackside tire engineer, Michell began his Formula 1 career with the Caterham F1 Team and has over ten years of expertise in the sport. After that, he relocated to Toro Rosso, where he served as Pierre Gasly's temporary race engineer for the 2017 Malaysian and Japanese Grands Prix.
Pierre Gasly-John Howard (Alpine)
As Karl Loos, Pierre Gasly's former engineer, was elevated to the position of deputy of trackside engineering for the team, Gasly will partner with John Howard for the 2024 season. After working together short during the final few races of the 2023 season, Gasly stated his happiness with his new engineer, Howard.
Howard has worked at Alpine for thirteen years. He began as a mechanical design engineer and worked his way up to engineering coordinator and senior performance engineer.
Esteban Ocon- Josh Peckett (Alpine)
In 2021, Josh Peckett and Esteban Ocon reunited at Alpine, where they had previously worked together in Ocon's 2016 Manor Racing debut. Peckett worked with Renault for four seasons as a racing and performance engineer before joining Alpine. Peckett started his Formula One career in 2013 with Marussia as a junior performance engineer.
In 2015, he moved to Manor Racing as a racing engineer. Ocon praised Peckett for his substantial contribution to his performance in 2021, highlighting their collaborative efforts and the common objective of optimizing outcomes within the constraints at hand.
Alex Albon-James Urwin (Williams)
James Urwin joined Williams in 2014 and has been Alex Albon's race engineer since 2022. Urwin began his career in Formula 1 as a performance engineer. He later moved on to work as a racing engineer for Lance Stroll, George Russell, and now Albon. Urwin worked as an engineer in GP2 for Super Nova Racing and Caterham Racing prior to entering Formula One racing. He also worked for Taurus Sports as a mechanic for the British Touring Cars and the European Le Mans Series.
Logan Sargeant- Gaetan Jego (Williams)
Gaetan Jego brings over 20 years of experience from numerous motorsport endeavors to Formula 1, where he has been active for the last four years. He was the technical director for the LMP1 and DTM teams at ART Grand Prix before entering Formula 1. When Jego first joined Williams in 2019, he was Nicholas Latifi's racing engineer. In his first season, he took over as Logan Sargeant's senior race engineer.
Daniel Ricciardo-Pierre Hamelin (RB)
For the 2024 season, Pierre Hamelin will be Daniel Ricciardo's race engineer, carrying on from their collaboration in the second half of the 2023 campaign. After the British Grand Prix, Ricciardo rejoined the team, taking Nyck de Vries' place. Hamelin's attempts to configure the car for several drivers in 2023 were acknowledged by Ricciardo, who also brought attention to the difficulties in accommodating personal preferences.
Hamelin has worked with different drivers during team re-brands since he first joined Toro Rosso as a performance engineer. He began his career in aerospace engineering in 2009, focusing on aircraft wing de-icing, before making the switch to motorsport.
Yuki Tsunoda- Mattia Spini (RB)
Since joining RB (previously AlphaTauri) in 2012, Mattia Spini has served as a mentor for the drivers of the Red Bull junior squad. He went on to work with Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat before joining Yuki Tsunoda as race engineer. Spini began his career with the team as a DIL simulation engineer and subsequently worked as a performance engineer for drivers such as Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo, and Carlos Sainz before taking on the position of race engineer.
Valtteri Bottas- Alex Chan (Sauber)
In 2022, Alex Chan took on the role of race engineer for Valtteri Bottas upon joining Sauber, previously known as Alfa Romeo, from Mercedes. Chan's journey with Sauber began in 2014, initially as a vehicle dynamics engineer and later advancing to become a performance engineer for Kimi Raikkonen. His Formula 1 career commenced at the Caterham F1 team, where he served as a performance analyst.
Zhou Guanyu- Andrea Benisi (Sauber)
For the 2024 season, Andrea Benisi will take over as Zhou Guanyu's race engineer, leaving his previous position as a performance engineer. Former partner of Zhou from 2022 has been Jorn Becker, who has helped the Chinese driver since his Formula 1 debut.
Kevin Magnussen-Mark Slade (Haas)
After leaving the sport at the end of 2020, Mark Slade returned to Formula 1 in 2022, working for Kevin Magnussen at Haas as his race engineer. Before this, Slade worked with McLaren for eighteen years as a race engineer, having a remarkable career. After that, he moved on to positions with Mercedes, Lotus, and Renault.
In 2020, he went back to Renault to work with Esteban Ocon. Slade has collaborated with well-known drivers over his career, including Mika Hakkinen, Nico Hulkenberg, Michael Schumacher, and Kimi Raikkonen.
Nico Hulkenberg-Gary Gannon (Haas)
Reliability engineer Gary Gannon started his Formula 1 career in 2011 with Marussia F1, moving to Haas four years later. From then, he worked as a racing engineer alongside drivers such as Mick Schumacher and Romain Grosjean. Ten years prior to entering the Formula One scene, Gannon was an engineer for Honda's CART and ALMS teams.
For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Telegram.
