The connection between a Formula 1 competitor and their trackside engineer has consistently held significant weight, and this dynamic has become even more crucial by 2026, owing to the intricate nature of the rules.
To gain insight into this crucial partnership, we interviewed former F1 engineer Julien Simon-Chautemps. He provided tactical direction from the pit lane to racers such as Kimi Raikkonen, Romain Grosjean, Pastor Maldonado, Vitaly Petrov, and Jolyon Palmer throughout his tenure with Lotus/Renault and Sauber.
Julien explores the qualities that define an effective race engineer, how their responsibilities have evolved for the 2026 season, and his experiences collaborating with drivers such as Raikkonen throughout his career in Formula 1.
