The work these guys do is regularly unappreciated. A good race engineer can make a good driver a great driver. Even something as simple as an encouraging message to the driver can change the outcome of a grand prix. We saw today Jenson Button in regular contact with Dave Robson (i believe that's his name), wanting to know the gap to the car in front. We all know how close Felipe Baby and Rob Smedley are, same with Sebastian Vettel and Guillaume Rocquelin. Do you think that a race engineer deserves as much praise as the drivers get, or are they expendable?
True there job is to keep the driver calm, seb and rocky are tight as anything where other front runners sound a bit hostile towards theres.
Race engineers are certainly not expendable! F1 is a team sport; and as such involves the inter-dependency of all of its parts. However, some of these 'parts' are considered more essential than others: for instance, a team could not possibly enter competition without a driver. Similarly, the pilot of a military jet fighter has a huge team of people behind the scenes, without whom there would be no pilot.
Yep, I agree but the lack of replies to this thread is rather telling about how people feel about the engineers. Where would a film be without a cinematographer or a producer? But very few even know who they are or care.
I know what you mean, if a car is perfect and goes on to win the driver gets the plaudits, but if it isn't then the engineer gets the blame. and to furter that list max, where would any of the plastic pop acts be without someone to write the music, someone to write the songs and someone to put it all together and sound good.
That's a very good analogy from which you can extrapolate that the drivers are the expendable ones - and a lot of them are! And in a film it's the stars who are expendable, just ask a producer.
The race engineer (a.k.a. the team) gets the blame when things go wrong, so it stands to reason that he should get the credit when he makes the difference. The McLaren drivers, whether you love them, loathe them or judge them by their covers, generally do this.
Race engineers are the focal point for the driver. They take the blame for a large team's opinion of strategy and instant decisions as the race unfolds. Will unfairly get criticism and probably little praise when it all goes well. Unsung hero.
Race engineer and driver are an essential parnership within the team, like an airline pilot is with the guy in the control tower - you can't have one without the other. And it's always obvious how much the driver appreciates this, especially after a win.
Race engineers do deserve loads of credit, without them the teams and drivers wouldn be able to operate. I also believe a good bond between engineer and driver is vital such as Seb/Rocky and Rob/Felipe
I would love to be a race engineer. You have one of the worlds 24 best drivers under your control, and you can help make them even better.
