Race engineer

Race Engineer
Occupation
Occupation type
Profession
Activity sectors
Applied sciences
Description
CompetenciesAerodynamics, vehicle dynamics, systems engineering, applied mathematics, management skills
Education required
Engineering education
Fields of
employment
Motorsport
Scuderia Ferrari race engineer Rob Smedley at the Formula 1 2010 Canadian Grand Prix.

A race engineer is a motorsport team member who analyses data to achieve the best performance from the vehicle and driver. The race engineer communicates with the team's data analyst, mechanics, and driver, both between and during races. Off the race track, the race engineer analyses historical data to determine the initial set-up for the next race event or test. The race engineer's duties also include hands-on management of the vehicle mechanics, organization of the testing schedule, and assurance of compliance with regulations. The race engineer seeks to make these activities occur as seamlessly as possible for the driver. Race engineers almost always have an academic degree in engineering or a related field.[1][2]

A good race engineer must have good people skills. To be effective, the race engineer must have a good working relationship with not only the driver but also the rest of the team, both at and away from the track. Many times the race engineer is also "the face" of the team for the media; this is especially true during the race while the driver is inaccessible. This makes the race engineer's media skills a priority.[3]

  1. ^ Meet Andrea Stella. http://fakeferrarinews.wordpress.com/the-ferrari-team-profile/meet-andrea-stella
  2. ^ Job Focus – The Race Engineer. "It's Story Time (Powered by CubeCart)". Archived from the original on 2013-06-09. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
  3. ^ The role of the F1 race engineer http://www.f1technical.net/features/3645