Renault hires Pete Machin as head of aerodynamics
Renault is continuing its recruitment program by bringing in Pete Machin from Red Bull. He will take responsibility for all the team's aerodynamics from July 3, 2017.
If Renault has made significant progress on its engine, as evidenced by Red Bull’s victories last year, it is also necessary to improve its car from a chassis and aerodynamic standpoint.
This last department will be all the more important this year as the new regulations emphasize this field, particularly with regard to tires and wing size. That’s why Renault wanted to attract a heavyweight in the sector in the person of Pete Machin, who had been working with Red Bull (Jaguar at the time) since 2002, as commented by Cyril Abiteboul, the team’s managing director: « We are very happy to welcome Pete Machin to Enstone. Aerodynamics is obviously an extremely important area for performance, and recruiting him is a key step in our hiring program. The latest regulations make aerodynamics more crucial than ever. Having Pete join us at such an important time will be of great interest. »
As is customary in the small world of F1, the engineer will have to observe a gardening leave between his two positions and will therefore only be able to join Enstone during the next summer, on July 3rd. Nevertheless, he will not arrive completely in unknown territory as he already knows a number of the team’s leaders, having worked with them in the past: Bob Bell was leading the technical team when Renault won world titles with the constructors. I am therefore very eager to work with him. I have already worked closely with both Nick Chester and Ciaron Pilbeam, so I have good affinities with key people.
It is interesting to see that relationships in the paddock can go back a long way. Indeed, Nick Chester and Pete Machin worked together within the Arrows team in the late 1990s. The connections with Ciaron Pilbeam go back less far since he was at Red Bull between 2006 and 2013.
Following this arrival, the current holder of the position, Jon Tomlinson, is demoted in the hierarchy and is now only deputy head of aerodynamics, reporting directly to Pete Machin.
With the participation of www.racingbusiness.fr
