Category: Formula 1

The Faenza-based team enjoyed its most competitive outing of the year in Miami last weekend, with Tsunoda scoring twice thanks to an eighth-place finish in Saturday’s sprint followed by a strong drive to seventh in Sunday’s race.

The results left Tsunoda encouraged about his team’s form going forward, hailing the speed of its progress.

“It shows how much we’re pushing, you know, especially the people who work in the background,” Tsunoda told F1.com after the race. “The progress we’re having throughout the year so far is very fast.

“Every race so far we were always at least driving around the P10 and most of the races we’re scoring points, and recently it’s not even just P10, but P8, P9, P7, P4.

Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team VCARB 01, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

“So obviously, if we continue like this, maybe we at some point catch up the [top five] teams. We never know and that’s what we aim for for now.”

“I kind of peed in my pants when I slid at Turn seven,” he said of the incident.”I kind of had a half-spin there. It was my biggest mistake and it was unnecessary for me.

“But after that, the pace was there. I also enjoyed the battle with Lewis. In the end, he overtook me like yesterday, so kind of deja vu.”

Former Ferrari performance engineer Steven Petrik was installed as a replacement for Bottas’ engineer Alex Chan, whom the Finn had worked with since joining the team in 2022.

Bottas noted that the decision was “not in my hands”, suggesting that this was part of Audi’s “reconstruction” of the Sauber team ahead of the German brand’s entry as a full works outfit in 2026.

Sauber representative Alunni Bravi revealed that this was largely the case, and that CEO Andreas Seidl had been making changes that would move the team towards its final structure when the rebrand is completed at the end of 2025.

“Andreas Seidl decided to anticipate certain decisions, and start implementing the changes that will bring the current structure towards the final structure that we will have in place in ’26,” Alunni Bravi explained.

“But we needed to start implementing those changes. This is not the final structure of the race team. As in Hinwil, there is not the final structure of what will be the Audi F1 team and the organisational chart.

“We wanted to start, and Andreas Seidl decided to do it immediately. Because we think that we need to bring a bit more experience, but also to bring people that can have know-how from other teams, from top teams and help us to develop our processes, our analysis.”

Valtteri Bottas, Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, on the grid

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Alunni Bravi added Petrik’s introduction as race engineer to Bottas had started at the Pirelli test following the Japanese Grand Prix, and that the team had let Bottas know the decision after China.

He added that, although the addition of Petrik arrived in the same week as the team’s announcement that Nico Hulkenberg would join the team in 2025, the two signings had “no connection”.

“Of course, it’s now up to us to integrate the new engineer, and also, of course, to create, to establish a good working relationship, but also personal relationship between Valtteri and race engineer.

“We discussed this with Valtteri after China. There was a meeting immediately after the race. Steven Petrik was already race engineer of Valtteri in Suzuka during the two Pirelli test days.

“And we decided to anticipate this change. Of course, when you take a decision, you can always take a good or a bad decision – and only time will prove if we have been good in taking this one.

“But this… there was no link between the change of the race engineer and the announcement of Nico [Hulkenberg]. It was just one of the first steps that we wanted to implement, to have a new organisation also in the race team coming into place as soon as possible.”

Former Ferrari performance engineer Steven Petrik was installed as a replacement for Bottas’ engineer Alex Chan, whom the Finn had worked with since joining the team in 2022.

Bottas noted that the decision was “not in my hands”, suggesting that this was part of Audi’s “reconstruction” of the Sauber team ahead of the German brand’s entry as a full works outfit in 2026.

Sauber representative Alunni Bravi revealed that this was largely the case, and that CEO Andreas Seidl had been making changes that would move the team towards its final structure when the rebrand is completed at the end of 2025.

“Andreas Seidl decided to anticipate certain decisions, and start implementing the changes that will bring the current structure towards the final structure that we will have in place in ’26,” Alunni Bravi explained.

“But we needed to start implementing those changes. This is not the final structure of the race team. As in Hinwil, there is not the final structure of what will be the Audi F1 team and the organisational chart.

“We wanted to start, and Andreas Seidl decided to do it immediately. Because we think that we need to bring a bit more experience, but also to bring people that can have know-how from other teams, from top teams and help us to develop our processes, our analysis.”

Valtteri Bottas, Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, on the grid

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Alunni Bravi added Petrik’s introduction as race engineer to Bottas had started at the Pirelli test following the Japanese Grand Prix, and that the team had let Bottas know the decision after China.

He added that, although the addition of Petrik arrived in the same week as the team’s announcement that Nico Hulkenberg would join the team in 2025, the two signings had “no connection”.

“Of course, it’s now up to us to integrate the new engineer, and also, of course, to create, to establish a good working relationship, but also personal relationship between Valtteri and race engineer.

“We discussed this with Valtteri after China. There was a meeting immediately after the race. Steven Petrik was already race engineer of Valtteri in Suzuka during the two Pirelli test days.

“And we decided to anticipate this change. Of course, when you take a decision, you can always take a good or a bad decision – and only time will prove if we have been good in taking this one.

“But this… there was no link between the change of the race engineer and the announcement of Nico [Hulkenberg]. It was just one of the first steps that we wanted to implement, to have a new organisation also in the race team coming into place as soon as possible.”

But speculation that Antonelli could replace Sargeant this season gathered pace during the Miami Grand Prix weekend after the FIA received a request to waive the superlicence minimum age requirement, given the Italian is yet to turn 18.

“I feel like, I mean, jumping in FP1 this weekend the most comfortable I felt all year and I feel like I was straightaway on it.

“If I look since Australia, I feel like it’s been going relatively well, from a pace front. Japan, getting almost everything out of it. Of course, China was disappointing, but again here [Saturday at Miami], I feel like I did a good job. So… just looking for that last tenth. But nonetheless, just enjoying it, being home and keep delivering the best I can.”

Andrea Kimi Antonelli drives Mercedes W12

Asked if there had been discussions with Williams team principal James Vowles over the security of his seat, Sargeant replied: “No, I wouldn’t say. I wouldn’t say so, no. I talked to James internally. I talked to my managers.

Pressed on whether he was given assurances from Vowles, the American added: “That’s all internal talk. I’m not gonna say anything.”

But even before his lucky break Norris displayed searing pace on the medium tyres, and on the hard-tyred restart he comfortably held his lead and drove away from Verstappen to win by seven seconds, with the Dutchman admitting McLaren’s pace looked “insane”.

And while emotions ran high at McLaren following Norris’ breakthrough win, Stella said he wasn’t too sure that Miami’s Sunday picture was representative for the races to come.

“Yes, we improved the car. We know in the numbers how much we improved it and its material, you should see it in laptime,” Stella said.

“But for Red Bull, this race was a little bit of a struggle. Is the pace we saw a representation of the future? I’m not going to put my signature on this statement.

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38

Photo by: Erik Junius

“In Japan, we were six-tenths away in qualifying off Red Bull. In China again we were a few tenths away, so it would be completely unrealistic to think that what we have seen here is the updated picture of competitiveness. 

“I think here Red Bull didn’t get the most out of their package.”

With Piastri also getting the full spec in Imola, which includes a revised floor, Stella says the team’s Miami success should be seen as a sign that its work in the factory is paying off.

It will now start pulling together its next upgrade package for later this year, which Stella believes is necessary to pose a consistent challenge to Red Bull.

“We take this positive, we take this encouragement,” he added. “If anything it’s even more energy to develop possibly even faster than what we are doing.

“But in my view, if you want to fight consistently Red Bull, we need to deliver another package like the one we have delivered here.”

Centred around a change in philosophy for the sidepod and engine cover bodywork, the rest of the SF-24 will also undergo a transformation, as the team looks for ways to apply pressure on Red Bull and stem the flow of the threat now posed by a resurgent McLaren package.

Ferrari, having moved to the underbite sidepod inlet at the start of the season, is now sporting an overbite arrangement, similar to the layout we’ve seen Red Bull pursue in 2024. However, while Red Bull has been able to minimise the size of their horizontal inlet, Ferrari’s solution is a little more expansive.

Meanwhile, the vertical bypass duct beside the chassis has been merged with the main inlet to form one larger inlet, similar to the arrangement seen on this year’s Alpine and Mercedes.

The upshot of this is the removal of the bypass duct’s outlet beside the rear leg of the halo and a change to the layout of the winglet housed here, as a cobra-shaped vane now presides over the region.

The outboard wing mirror stalk has also been extended to help condition the airflow along the upper surface of the sidepod bodywork.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Davide Cavazza

The overall shape of the sidepod’s bodywork has also been reprofiled, with a more generous undercut now present that has allowed Ferrari’s designers to rework the shape of the sidepod’s flank and adjust its waistline cut to better work with the floor alongside.

The sheer magnitude of these external changes will have undoubtedly required the team to have repackaged the SF-24’s internals too, with the radiators, coolers and other power unit ancillaries being moved and/or entirely redesigned to fit their new home.

As a consequence, the engine cover has also been fettled, with the louvred panel previously situated on the shelf-like section of bodywork exchanged for a larger, single outlet in the middle of the assembly, while the rear section is pinched in to create room for the heat to be rejected.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Davide Cavazza

Ferrari might well have been able to drip-feed some of these components onto the car in China and Miami but the team knows that brings with it the risk of the sprint weekend format and the limited testing that can be done during those events.

Opting to deliver this entire update package at Imola should therefore represent a much larger step forward for Ferrari, as it will have more time to assess and understand its impact.

This should also set the team in good stead for the next phase of the season, providing it has a good correlation between the real-world behaviour of these new parts and what was predicted by its simulation tools.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Davide Cavazza

The win came during Norris’ sixth year in the series after being one of F1’s highest-rated drivers for several seasons and coming close to victory numerous times. 

So when Norris finally made that trip to the top step of the podium, it meant he entered the top 10 for the most grand prix starts before a driver’s maiden victory in F1. 

Where does Norris rank as a result and who else is on that list? 

Sergio Perez, Racing Point, 1st position, on the podium with a Mexican flag

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

• Grand prix starts before first win: 190 

• First win: 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix 

• Years in F1: 2011 – present  

• Career wins: 6 

• Career starts: 263 

• Championships: 0 

It meant Perez finally won a grand prix at his 190th attempt, which set a record for the longest wait as his whole career up to then had been spent in midfield machinery. Since, however, the floodgates have pretty much opened as Perez moved to Red Bull in 2021 where he has won five grands prix. 

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, 1st position

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

• Grand prix starts before first win: 150 

• First win: 2022 British Grand Prix 

• Years in F1: 2015 – present 

• Career wins: 3 

• Career starts: 188 

• Championships: 0 

Ferrari then told him to let a quicker Leclerc overtake on lap 31, but Sainz was faster on the lap 43 restart where he regained the lead down Wellington Straight for his maiden victory after 150 grand prix starts.   

Podium: Race winner Mark Webber, Red Bull Racing second place Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing, third place Felipe Massa, Ferrari

Photo by: Rainer W. Schlegelmilch / Motorsport Images

But Webber was significantly faster than anybody that day, as an impressive recovery drive saw him retake the lead during the second pitstop window before winning in a Red Bull 1-2 by nine seconds.  

4. Rubens Barrichello  

Podium: Race winner Rubens Barrichello, Ferrari F1 2000, second place Mika Hakkinen, Mclaren MP4-15, third place David Coulthard, Mclaren MP4-15

Photo by: Sutton Images

Barrichello spent seven years in the midfield until an impressive 1999, where he scored three podiums for Stewart, caught the eye of Ferrari boss Jean Todt who signed him for 2000. 

Race winner Jarno Trulli, Renault F1 Team

Photo by: Sutton Images

Jarno Trulli spent the entirety of his 14-year F1 career racing in the midfield, which makes it no surprise that he only won one grand prix. That came for Renault at the 2004 Monaco GP, where Trulli never lost position to win from pole on his 117th race start. 

It had been a long wait for his win because Trulli spent the previous seven seasons racing for Minardi, Prost, Jordan and Renault so two podiums during that spell was the best he could hope for.   

Jenson Button

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

• Grand prix starts before first win: 113 

• First win: 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix 

• Years in F1: 2000-17 

• Career wins: 15 

• Career starts: 306 

• Championships: 1 (2009) 

Jenson Button had a rocky start to his F1 career by driving for three teams in his opening four seasons. It all finally clicked for him in 2004 when Button scored the first 10 podiums of his career and finished third in the standings, although victory still eluded him. 

He was forced to wait even longer when his British American Racing team regressed in 2005 due to the regulation changes. But things gradually improved when BAR partnered with Honda for 2006, leading to Button’s maiden victory at that season’s 13th round. 

Although he had qualified in fourth, an engine penalty dropped him to 14th. But it was wet and Button shone in those conditions as he stayed on-track while others spun out. Not pitting during the lap 25 safety car then promoted Button to second, before claiming the lead on lap 51 when Alonso spun off due to a driveshaft failure. Button’s lead was left unchallenged as he finally won after 113 grand prix starts – although he waited another two-and-a-half years for his next victory.  

Race winner Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1 W03 celebrates in parc ferme

Photo by: Sutton Images

• Grand prix starts before first win: 111 

• First win: 2012 Chinese Grand Prix 

• Years in F1: 2006-16 

• Career wins: 23 

• Career starts: 206 

• Championships: 1 (2016) 

Nico Rosberg’s maiden victory came during his seventh year in F1, but he was always highly-rated. He spent his first four years at Williams, where he beat his team-mates – Alexander Wurz and then Kazuki Nakajima – in the final three of those seasons while scoring two podiums in midfield machinery.  

It led to his Mercedes move in 2010 where he beat team-mate Schumacher in the 2010 and 2011 standings, but only scored three podiums as the Silver Arrows was not yet the force it later became. 

Mercedes’ pace remained pretty much the same for 2012, but a lap of the gods gave Rosberg his first pole by half-a-second at that season’s Chinese GP. Rosberg carried that pace into Sunday, where he controlled the race throughout to give Mercedes its first win since 1955 and his first after 111 grand prix starts. 

=8. Lando Norris 

Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Erik Junius

• Grand prix starts before first win: 110 

• First win: 2024 Miami Grand Prix 

• Years in F1: 2019 – present 

• Career wins: 1 

• Career starts: 110 

• Championships: 0 

Norris’ victory followed several missed opportunities, seeing him also obtain F1’s record for the most podiums (15) without a victory. He made his McLaren and F1 debut in 2019, but it wasn’t until 2021 that Norris was in a position to win races. 

Red Bull’s dominance over the next two years limited opportunities, but Norris’ day finally arrived at the 2024 Miami GP when he won from fifth. It came after running a long first stint, which ended when he pitted under a safety car causing Norris to lead the lap 33 restart. But it was not all luck, as Norris gained 7.6 seconds on Verstappen in the final 25 laps for his first F1 win. 

=8. Giancarlo Fisichella 

Podium: Giancarlo Fisichella, Jordan celebrates

Photo by: Sutton Images

But Fisichella’s chance finally came at the 2003 Brazilian GP when he, now back at Jordan, won from eighth on the grid. The key to that victory was a lap seven pitstop where Fisichella took on enough fuel to last until the end of a very wet race, which had half of the grid retire.  

Mika Hakkinen, Mclaren

Photo by: Motorsport Images

• Grand prix starts before first win: 96 

• First win: 1997 European Grand Prix 

• Years in F1: 1991-01 

• Career wins: 20 

• Career starts: 161 

• Championships: 2 (1998-99) 

It took seven seasons for Mika Hakkinen to drive a car that could fight for wins throughout a campaign, as Lotus and then McLaren both went through a difficult period. 

Mercedes dominated the series during the previous rules era, winning both the drivers’ and the constructors’ titles every year from 2014 to 2020.

But the rules overhaul in 2022 left the team on the back foot and has so far been unable to recover to mount a challenge for race wins on a regular basis.

A change to its car concept for 2024 appears to also have failed to help Mercedes lift its form, with George Russell saying after the Miami GP that the team needed to accept it was the fourth-fastest at the moment.

Lowe, who worked at Mercedes from 2013 to 2017, believes the team made some wrong decisions from an aerodynamic point of view when interpreting the current regulations.

The former McLaren and Williams technical director suggested it would take a long time for Mercedes to overcome those setbacks.

Speaking to Autosport/Motorsport.com in an interview, Lowe said: “I have a lot of sympathy and I think in fairness if you talk to teams that are doing well if they aren’t too arrogant and they will say ‘You should count on having good fortune in this sport when you have a good car and don’t assume it is always from your own brilliance’.

“That is a message that most of us have learned over the years.

“Mercedes have made some wrong turns aerodynamically. The tools that we use are incredibly sophisticated, wind tunnels and CFD and so on but nevertheless highly flawed and all teams will admit this.

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1, Paddy Lowe, Mercedes AMG F1 Executive Director, race winner Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 and Valtteri Bottas, Williams celebrate on the podium

Photo by: Sutton Images

“Therefore, there is always risk you go down an avenue that doesn’t work in real life and then you have to recover, and you can see that has been the case with Mercedes.

“That is very difficult to recover simply over a matter of time.

“Your team has huge numbers of people and all of your machinery for testing and evaluating ideas should be churning out lap time on a daily basis, and if your competitors are doing that and you have, say, lost three, four, six months for whatever reason, even if you get back on track it is very difficult to produce lap time at a higher rate than they are, so you remain with this offset for a long time as you try and claw it back.

“When I look at Mercedes, this is the situation they are in,” added Lowe, the founder and current CEO of the carbon-neutral synthetic fuel concern Zero Petroleum.

Asked if he had the confidence Mercedes will recover, Lowe said: “You may or may not get there. It may get worse. This is the nature of the sport and why it is so fascinating to watch as champions come and go.

“Empires rise and fall, and I always thought Formula 1 was a bit like that a bit like the Romans and the Greeks. There are lots of components to that and complacency can be one of them by the way, and we saw that with the Romans.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

“We were very happy in 1992 at Williams to beat McLaren, who had seen unbeatable for some years, and you come out and you beat them, and you can’t believe it to start with, but something has changed and lots of thing can contribute to it.”

Lowe reckons the next major rules overhaul in 2026 may offer Mercedes the opportunity it needs to return to its former glory.

“The 2026 regulations will be a disturbance that Mercedes are looking forward to see if they can disturb the status quo,” Lowe added.

“But unfortunately today’s formula is very much about optimisation at a micro level on top of some basic structures that you chose or copy or evolve to and then it is about optimisation, and it is very difficult to make step changes within that space.”

When asked by Autosport if Miami is a taste of what’s yet to come in 2024, Vasseur replied: “I think it’s almost like this since the beginning of the season, depending on the track.

“Honestly, Red Bull is still ahead. Probably Max could have won today without the story of the safety car. They did the pole position, which means they still have a small advantage.

“What is true is that compared to one year ago, when we are able to do a good job and to put everything together, we are there. It means we are putting them a little bit under pressure, they have to be a bit more aggressive with the strategy.

“They are not anymore in the comfort zone of last year where it doesn’t matter what happens and after lap two they were in front.”

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24,Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Erik Junius

“I think it’s a game-changer in the management of the race,” said Vasseur.

“This is an opportunity for us because if we are doing another small step, I think that we will be really in a position to fight with them every single weekend.”

Following on from McLaren’s Miami updates, Ferrari is preparing its first major upgrade package for next week’s race at Imola’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Ferrari took to its Fiorano test track this week to give its new parts a first shakedown during a 200km filming day.

Every Formula 1 driver has their own race engineer who plays a key role in ensuring that their driver is aware of the race strategy and any decisions being made by the team. They are pivotal in creating an open line of communication to the driver whilst the car is on the track and relay messages which can help with improving performance or even helping to manage the vehicle. 

Some engineers even become household names, such as Lewis Hamilton’s engineer ‘Bono’ and Max Verstappen’s ‘GP’. Many drivers will form a close relationship with their race engineers and will retain them for multiple seasons as a sign of trust. 

What is an F1 race engineer and what do they do?

The role of an F1 race engineer is to be the key communicator between the team and the driver during the race. They are sat on the pit wall and have to deliver messages from the driver to the engineering team and vice versa.  

An engineer must know their driver extensively in order to translate any feedback about the car back to the rest of the team, who can then make any necessary adjustments. They are also responsible for ensuring that their drivers remain motivated whilst they’re on the track and providing any feedback on how to improve their performance. 

A race engineer also needs to clearly communicate between the team and their driver, as well as understand the engineering of a car to ensure information is correctly communicated. The trust between a driver and their engineer, means that many will stay together for multiple seasons. 

Following any session, the race engineer will look through driver comments alongside relevant data to figure out where they can make improvements for future races. 

Here’s everything you need to know about each driver’s race engineer:  

Max Verstappen – Gianpiero Lambiase 

• Team: Red Bull 
• Years together: 7 
• Engineer’s years in F1: 18 

Gianpiero Lambiase, Red Bull Racing engineer

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Gianpiero Lambiase – also known as GP – has been Max Verstappen’s race engineer since the current world champion made his move to Red Bull in 2016. Team principal Christian Horner has likened the pair to an ‘old married couple’ due to the engineer’s straight-talking nature with the Dutchman following his on-track outbursts.  

Verstappen has frequently praised his race engineer’s direct nature and honesty, adding: “And he’s also a guy who doesn’t talk too much. I don’t like someone who’s talking just to talk, giving me more messages – because for me, that is just not working. And he’s exactly the same, so he likes that as well.”

Lambiase started in Formula 1 in 2005 where he spent 10 years with Jordan, who rebranded to Midland, Spyker, and Force India, during his time with the team. He became a performance engineer for Giancarlo Fisichella in 2008, helping the Italian driver to Force India’s first podium at the 2009 Belgium Grand Prix. 

He then worked with Vitantonio Liuzzi, Paul di Resta and Sergio Perez, before moving to Red Bull Racing in 2015. Lambiase became Daniil Kvyat’s race engineer and retained his role when the Russian driver was replaced by Verstappen just five races into the 2016 season. 

Lambiase was promoted to Head of Race Engineering at Red Bull in 2022, replacing Guillaume Rocquelin, but has also continued in his role as race engineer for Verstappen. 

Sergio Perez – Hugh Bird

• Team: Red Bull 
• Years together: 3 
• Engineer’s years in F1: 11 

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing talks with race engineer Hugh Bird

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Hugh Bird has been working with Sergio Perez as his senior race engineer since the 2021 Formula 1 season. The pair have claimed five race wins in three years, as well as finishing second in the 2023 drivers’ world championship.  

Bird started in Formula 1 in 2012 when he joined Red Bull Racing as a simulation and analysis engineer, before moving to be a simulation performance engineer from 2015 to 2017. He was then appointed Max Verstappen’s performance engineer in 2018, where he spent three years helping the driver score his seven race wins and two consecutive third places in the 2019 and 2020 world championships.  

Sergio Perez has spoken highly of his engineer and after a difficult mid-season in 2023, told the Talking Bulls podcast: “We never lose faith in each other, we’re together and we[’re] always looking forward to the next target. I think that’s something [that] make[s] us very bulletproof because we’ve had some tough times in our history of three years but we always somehow managed to get out of it with a lot of success, so I think it’s a good dynamic in that regard.” 

Lewis Hamilton – Peter Bonnington 

• Team: Mercedes  
• Years together: 11  
• Engineer’s years in F1: 19 

Peter Bonnington, Senior Race Engineer, Mercedes AMG, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG, on the grid

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

Peter Bonnington – known by many as Bono – is one of the most familiar race engineers on the grid. He joined Jordan Grand Prix in 2004 as a data engineer, working alongside Giorgio Pantano and Timo Glock. 

Bonnington then moved to Honda as an understudy to race engineer Andrew Shovlin, which saw him progress into his role as Jenson Button’s performance engineer. He remained with the team when it transitioned into Brawn GP and worked alongside the British driver as he won his 2009 drivers’ world championship. 

He then became Michael Schumacher’s performance engineer for the 2011 and 2012 season with Mercedes, before the German driver announced he would be retiring. Bonnington moved to the role of senior race engineer for Lewis Hamilton in 2013, where he has remained to this day.  

Bonnington has worked alongside Hamilton to help secure the British driver six out of his seven world championships. He is also known for coining the phrase, “It’s Hammer time”. 

Following the news that Hamilton will move to Ferrari in 2025, it is yet to be announced if Bonnington will move with him.  

George Russell – Marcus Dudley

• Team: Mercedes  
• Years together: 1 
• Engineer’s years in F1: 17 

Marcus Dudley joined George Russell as his senior race engineer at the start of 2023, having previously worked as a performance engineer for Mercedes since 2013. Dudley has spent a decade with the Brackley-based team, stepping in to replace Bonnington at the 2019 Mexican Grand Prix and 2022 Austrian Grand Prix. 

He started his career in F1 as a Mathematical Modeller in 2006 before becoming a GP2 Performance Engineer at Arden International Motorsport. Before joining Mercedes, Dudley spent a season and a half with Marussia F1 Team as a Junior Performance Engineer. 

Charles Leclerc – Bryan Bozzi

• Team: Ferrari 
• Years together: 0
• Engineer’s years in F1: 12

Charles Leclerc will work with a new race engineer for the remainder of the 2024 season after Ferrari announced that Xavier Marcos will move into a new role on other programmes.  Marcos has been with Ferrari since 2018 and was previously the race engineer for Leclerc’s predecessor Kimi Raikkonen.  

A statement from Ferrari read: “Scuderia Ferrari HP announces that, as of Monday 13 May, Xavi Marcos will bring his valuable experience gained as a race engineer with the Formula 1 team to the development of other important company programmes.” 

Leclerc performance engineer Bryan Bozzi will move into the role as his race engineer starting in Imola next week. Bozzi has been with the Maranello-based team for 12 years, where he started as a wind tunnel R&D engineer in 2012.  

Carlos Sainz – Riccardo Adami

• Team: Ferrari 
• Years together: 3 
• Engineer’s years in F1: 21 

Riccardo Adami has been Carlos Sainz’s race engineer since the Spaniard joined Ferrari in 2021. He was previously the race engineer for Sebastian Vettel and moved from Toro Rosso to Ferrari in 2015.  

Adami started his career in 2002 with Minardi, working in several positions before becoming a race engineer. He stayed with the team when it was acquired by Red Bull at the end of 2005 and worked with multiple drivers including Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Sebastien Buemi and Vitantonio Liuzzi. 

This is the last year that Adami will work with Sainz, after it was announced that Hamilton would join Ferrari in 2025. It’s not yet known if Adami will become the British driver’s race engineer when he joins the team. 

Lando Norris – William Joseph

• Team: McLaren 
• Years together: 5 
• Engineer’s years in F1: 13 

Lando Norris, McLaren, on the grid with his race engineer

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Will Joseph has been with McLaren since 2010 and has been Lando Norris’ race engineer since his rookie year in 2019. Before moving into the role, Joseph worked as a race team performance engineer alongside Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez, Kevin Magnussen and Fernando Alonso. 

Joseph spent the first year of his motorsport career as a race engineer for Cobra Racing with their GT2 and GT3 cars. 

Oscar Piastri – Tom Stallard

• Team: McLaren 
• Years together: 1 
• Engineer’s years in F1: 15 

Tom Stallard has been with McLaren since 2008 and has been a race engineer for multiple drivers including Jenson Button, Stoffel Vandoorne, Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo. He became the race engineer for Oscar Piastri in 2023, with the Aussie joining Formula 1 for his rookie season.  

Stallard is also a former Olympic medallist, after securing silver at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing as part of the Team GB rowing team. 

Fernando Alonso – Chris Cronin

• Team: Aston Martin 
• Years together: 1 
• Engineer’s years in F1: Unknown 

Chris Cronin has worked as the race engineer for former world champion Sebastian Vettel and more recently Fernando Alonso. In 2023, he helped the Spaniard secure eight podiums, the highest results for the driver since 2013.  

Before working with Sebastian Vettel, Cronin worked as the race engineer for Sergio Perez. Cronin has discussed the importance of building up a strong relationship between a race engineer and a driver and how this came quickly with Alonso, who is one of the most experienced drivers on the grid.  

He said: “When Fernando arrived, he immediately said, ‘This is the sort of thing that I like and this is what helps me go fast.’ Having this kind of direction shortcuts the familiarisation process, whereas with younger drivers it might take a bit more time to find out what they need,” 

Lance Stroll – Ben Michell

• Team: Aston Martin 
• Years together: 3 
• Engineer’s years in F1: 10 

Ben Michell has been Lance Stroll’s race engineer since 2021, but has previously also worked as a senior performance engineer with the team.  

He began his career as a race and development engineer for Dunlop in MotoGP before moving into F1. Michell has spent the last decade in Formula 1 after starting at Caterham F1 Team as a trackside tyre engineer, before moving to Toro Rosso where he stood in as Pierre Gasly’s race engineer at the 2017 Malaysian and Japanese grands prix. 

Pierre Gasly – John Howard

• Team: Alpine 
• Years together: 0
• Engineer’s years in F1: 13

The Alpine team on the pit wall

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Pierre Gasly will be paired with John Howard for the 2024 season, after his previous engineer Karl Loos was promoted to deputy of trackside engineering for the team. The pair briefly worked together during the last few races of the 2023 season after Loos was promoted, with Gasly saying he was “very happy” with his new engineer. 

Howard has been with Alpine for the last thirteen years, starting as a mechanical design engineer and working his way up through other roles including an engineering coordinator and senior performance engineer.  

Esteban Ocon – Josh Peckett

• Team: Alpine 
• Years together: 4 
• Engineer’s years in F1: 10 

Josh Peckett and Esteban Ocon were reunited at Alpine in 2021 after previously working together for Ocon’s F1 debut with Manor Racing in 2016. Before joining the Enstone-based team, Peckett spent four seasons with Renault working as both a race and performance engineer.  

He started his Formula 1 career in 2013, where he started as a junior performance engineer for Marussia before moving to Manor Racing as a race engineer in 2015.  

In 2021 Ocon shared that Peckett had played a “massive role” in his performance, adding: “We are making an excellent team altogether, which is motivated, young, and hungry for the same aim as we have, which is performing, extracting, and doing the best we can with what we have in hands.” 

Alex Albon – James Urwin

• Team: Williams 
• Years together: 2 
• Engineer’s years in F1: 9 

James Urwin has been the race engineer for Alex Albon since 2022, but has been with Williams since 2014. He started in Formula 1 as a performance engineer, before moving to become a race engineer for Lance Stroll, then George Russell and now Albon. 

Before his career in F1, Urwin worked as an engineer in GP2 for Super Nova Racing and then Caterham racing, as well as a mechanic for the European Le Mans series and British Touring Cars for Taurus Sports. 

Logan Sargeant – Gaetan Jego

• Team: Williams 
• Years together: 1 
• Engineer’s years in F1: 4 

The Williams team on the pit wall

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Gaetan Jego has worked in Formula 1 for the last four years but has over two decades of experience working in Motorsport, including working for ART Grand Prix as its LMP1 and DTM technical director. He joined Williams in 2019, working as the race engineer for Nicholas Latifi before becoming the senior race engineer for Logan Sargeant for his rookie season. 

Daniel Ricciardo – Pierre Hamelin

• Team: RB 
• Years together: 1 
• Engineer’s years in F1: 13 

Pierre Hamelin will be Daniel Ricciardo’s race engineer for the 2024 season, after working together for the last half of the 2023 season. Ricciardo was brought back to the team after the British Grand Prix, when RB – then AlphaTauri – decided to axe newcomer Nyck de Vries. 

Ricciardo praised his race engineer following the 2023 season, saying: “As much as I believe in myself, I can’t underestimate my engineer, Pierre. He worked with three drivers this year and he’s trying to set up the car for each driver. 

“What we like, what we don’t, it’s not easy for him as well. So, I really look forward to a proper off-season and pre-season and I think 2024 is going to be exciting for us.” 

Hamelin joined Toro Rosso as a performance engineer and has worked with the team through its last two re-brands. He previously worked as Pierre Gasly, before the French driver moved to Alpine.  

Before moving into motorsport Hamelin worked in aerospace engineering, focusing on aircraft wing de-icing, but then moved to join Lotus in 2009. 

Yuki Tsunoda – Mattia Spini

• Team: RB 
• Years together: 3 
• Engineer’s years in F1: 12 

Team members of the Visa Cash App RB F1 Team on the pit wall

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Mattia Spini has been with RB – formerly AlphaTauri – since 2012 and has worked at mentoring the Red Bull junior team’s drivers. He is currently the race engineer for Yuki Tsunoda, but previously also worked with Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat.  

Before taking on the role as a race engineer, Spini worked within the team as a DIL simulation engineer and then a performance engineer for a host of drivers, including Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo and Carlos Sainz. 

Valtteri Bottas – Steven Petrik

• Team: Sauber 
• Years together: 0
• Engineer’s years in F1: 9

Valtteri Bottas was given a new race engineer ahead of the 2024 Miami Grand Prix. Steven Petrik has replaced Bottas’ previous race engineer Alex Chan, who had been with the Finnish driver since he joined Sauber – formerly known as Alfa Romeo – from Mercedes in 2022.  

Petrik has previously worked with Ferrari, starting with the Maranello– based team in 2015 as part of their engineering academy. He then spent eight years working as a race performance engineer and most recently worked alongside Carlos Sainz. 

Bottas said he was left “surprised” by the “sudden change” to his race engineer going into the second sprint weekend of the season but refused to answer if the move had his blessing. 

Zhou Guanyu – Andrea Benisi

• Team: Sauber 
• Years together: 0
• Engineer’s years in F1: Unknown 

Andrea Benisi will step into the role of Zhou Guanyu’s race engineer for 2024 after being promoted from a performance engineer. Zhou had previously worked with Jorn Becker, who had been with the Chinese driver since his F1 debut in 2022.

Kevin Magnussen – Mark Slade

• Team: Haas 
• Years together: 2 
• Engineer’s years in F1: 30 

Mark Slade made his return to Formula 1 in 2022 to become the race engineer for Kevin Magnussen at Haas, after leaving the sport at the end of 2020. The veteran engineer spent the first 18 years of his career as a race engineer for McLaren, moving to Renault, Lotus and Mercedes before going back to Renault to work alongside Esteban Ocon in 2020. 

He has previously worked with Michael Schumacher, Nico Hulkenberg, Kimi Raikkonen and Mika Hakkinen.  

Nico Hulkenberg – Gary Gannon

• Team: Haas 
• Years together: 1 
• Engineer’s years in F1: 12 

Gary Gannon joined Formula 1 in 2011 as a reliability engineer for the Marussia F1 team before moving to Haas in 2015. He became a race engineer, working previously with Romain Grosjean and Mick Schumacher.  

Gannon previously spent a decade with Honda working with their CART and ALMS teams as an engineer.