Moving F1-Staff

[lio007]

I’d like to begin an overview what’s going on behind the scenes:
(here are some of my known movings, except the well known ones e.g. Dirk de Beer, Shaun Whitehead, Giles Wood, David Wheater…)

Overview:

Code: Select all

              joined the team | left the team
Red Bull    |        3        |      4
Mercedes    |        9        |      6
Ferrari     |        5        |      6
Lotus       |        3        |      10
McLaren     |        8        |      1
Force India |        4        |      9
Toro Rosso  |        7        |      2
Williams    |        5        |      4
Marussia    |        2        |      -
Caterham    |        -        |      1
Others      |        6        |      4

To STR:
- Brendan Gilhome, Head of Aerodynamics (former Principal Aerodynamicist), from Mercedes to STR, 2013

To Mercedes:
- Sam Coates, Senior Mechanical Design Engineer, from FI to Mercedes, Jan. 2013
- Kim Stevens, Track Aerodynamicist (former CFD Engineer), from Sauber to Mercedes, Jan. 2013
- Slawomir Madaj, Senior Structural Analysis Engineer (former Structural Analysis Engineer), from Lotus to Mercedes, Jan. 2013
- Richard Saxby, R&D (former Lead Engineer Electrical Systems), from Williams to Mercedes, Aug. 2013
- Dr. Gary Hall, Head of Material Science (former Head of Manufacturing), from Lotus to Mercedes, Oct. 2013

To Ferrari:
- Gavin Bonney, Aerodynamic Model Designer (former Senior Aerodynamic Model Designer), from FI to Ferrari, Mar. 2013

To McLaren:
- Jacob Mercanti, Aerodynamicist, from Caterham to McLaren, Apr. 2013
- Tom Dix, Aerodynamic Performance Engineering, from Rolls-Royce to McLaren, Apr. 2013
- Mark Tatham, Design Team Leader, from Agrippa GmbH to McLaren, Jun. 2013
- Christian Schramm, Team Leader Aerodynamic Technology R&D, from – to Mclaren, Jul. 2013
- Matteo Sansavini, Senior Aerodynamicist (former WT&CFD Aerodynamicist), from Ferrari to McLaren, Oct. 2013

To Others:
- Antonio Artista, Vehicle Dynamics Engineer, from STR to Porsche, Jun. 2013
- Robert Thorley, Lead Surface Designer Engineer, from McLaren to Porsche, Aug. 2013
- Robert Edwards, former Design Engineer, from Lotus to RME Engineering, Dec. 2013

To Lotus:
- Alex White, Mechanical Design Engineer, from Mercedes HPP to Lotus, Sep. 2013

Update, 2014-01-04
To Marussia:
- Rob van den Heijkant, Aerodynamics Team Leader (former Senior Aerodynamicist), from FI to Marussia, Jan. 2014

To Mercedes:
- Tito Amato, Senior Simulator Engineer (former Vehicle Dynamics Engineer), from Ferrari GeS to Mercedes, Oct. 2013

To Lotus:
- Gerson Brand, CFD Aerodynamicist (former Aerodynamicist), from Caterham to Lotus, Dec. 2013

To Others:
- José Gallego Segura, Head of Aerodynamic Design (former Lead Design Engineer), from Lotus to Porsche, Jan. 2014

Update, 2014-01-12
To RBR:
- Richard Mead, Aerodynamics Engineer (former Electronics Engineer), from Mercedes HPP to RBR, Jul. 2013
- Nick Gibbs, Trackside IT Support Engineer (former IT Analyst), from FI to RBR, Jul. 2013

To Lotus:
- Riccardo Barri, Senior Composite Design Engineer, from Ferrari to Lotus, Sep. 2013

To STR:
- Frederic Launoy, Senior CFD Aerodynamicist , from Lotus to STR, Jan. 2014
To FI:
- Jonathan Marshall, Head of Vehicle Science (former Simulator Engineer), from Lotus to FI, Jan. 2014


Update, 2014-01-19
To STR:
- Raffaele Boschetti, Technical Director Advisor (former ICT-A&IT Responsible), from Ferrari to STR, Jan. 2014
- Davide Felappi, Aerodynamics Team Leader, from FI to STR, Oct. 2013
- Paul Smart, Wind Tunnel R&D Engineer (former Aero Software Consultant), from Ferrari to STR, Jul. 2013
- Charlie Constant, Simulation Engineer (former Tyre Performance Analysis Engineer), from Michelin to STR, Dec. 2013
- Xevi Pujolar, Senior Race Engineer (former Chief Race Engineer), from Williams to STR, Jan. 2014

To Williams:
- Jakob Andreasen, Head of Engineering Operations, from FI to Williams, Jan. 2014
- Craig Wilson, Head of Vehicle Dynamics, from Mercedes to Williams, Jan. 2014
- Rod Nelson, Chief Test & Support Engineer, from Lotus to Williams, Jan. 2014
- Greame Hackland, IT Director, from Lotus to Williams, Jan. 2014

To Mercedes:
- Craig Dear, Senior Aerodynamicist (former Aerodynamicist), from Williams to Mercedes, Jan. 2014
- Enrico Balbo, Aerodynamics Group Leader, from Williams to Mercedes, Jan. 2014

To Ferrari:
- Florian Puget, ERS Hybrid Systems Engineer (former KERS Hybrid Systems Enginner), from Mercedes HPP to Ferrari, Nov. 2013

To FI:
- James Knapton, Aero Data&Modelling Group Leader (former Head of Vehicle Dynamics), from Sauber to FI, Nov. 2013
- Michael Tramonto, Design Engineer-Aerodynamics (former Aero Surface Designer), from STR to FI, Jan. 2014
- Lawrence Wilkinson, Senior Control Systems Engineer (former Principal Control Engineer), from Mercedes to FI, Dec. 2013

To Others:
- Martin Norek, Vehicle Performance Engineer-Simulation (former Vehicle Dynamics Engineer), from Sauber to Audi, Sep. 2013
- Christopher Harley, Heaf of CFD-Aero (former Aerodynamicist), from FI to Wirth Research, Sep. 2013

To McLaren:
- Adam Painter, Composite Design Engineer (former Junior Composite Design Engineer), from FI to McLaren, Jan. 2014

To Marussia:
- Rob van den Heijkant, Aerodynamics Team Leader (former Senior Aerodynamicist), from FI to Marussia, Jan. 2014

[Crucial_Xtreme]

+1 Thanks for the list mate. Very interesting.

[shelly]

Interesting to note that an Italian aero guy leaves Ferrari for Mclaren

[Pierce89]

Interesting to note that an Italian aero guy leaves Ferrari for Mclaren

That stood out to me as well.

[Gridlock]

The fact they signed Peter Prodromou shows the wallet strings have opened, IMO. I'm sure there's a nice Italian restaurant somewhere near Woking.

[kooleracer]

Jarrod Murphy Head of CFD from Lotus also made to move the Mercedes.

@lio007 a very interesting move Alex White, Mechanical Design Engineer, from Mercedes HPP to Lotus. Why is do you think this particular move is interesting? According to his linkedin profile he only worked 13 months at Brixworth.

Is there anyone left at Enstone, it looks like the staff does not trust the management enough to fix the financial issues because the amount of staff they are losing is mindboggling.

[lio007]

Jarrod Murphy Head of CFD from Lotus also made to move the Mercedes.

@lio007 a very interesting move Alex White, Mechanical Design Engineer, from Mercedes HPP to Lotus. Why is do you think this particular move is interesting? According to his linkedin profile he only worked 13 months at Brixworth.

Tbh...I did some wild speculation, because Lotus hasn't announced their engine supplier. My wild speculation was that Lotus buy the PU's from Mercedes and Alex White give them some support in terms of integration. But on the other hand, as you mentioned, he was only 13 month at Brixworth and can a Mechanical Design Engineer give appropriate support, I don't think so. And last but not least, this would be a pretty late move to give them support, because at this stage the design should be finished.
Altogether I simply think it is interesting that an Engineer from Mercedes HPP works now in Enstone, no more no less.
What do you think?

In terms of Jarrod Murphy, he was linked to Ferrari as well as to Mercedes. AFAIK there were never any official conformation either for Ferrari or Mercedes.
There were also rumors about two CFD engineers from Lotus - Paul Cusdin and James Crook. They wished to go to Caterham, so Caterham agreed for Kovalainen to drive for Lotus free of charge in return for Lotus cutting short the usual "gardening leave" period for those two engineers and allowing them to start work at Caterham much sooner than would otherwise be possible.
...but now I'm again drifting into speculation and rumors, what I don't want to.

[shelly]

The fact they signed Peter Prodromou shows the wallet strings have opened, IMO. I'm sure there's a nice Italian restaurant somewhere near Woking.

I agree - there are already some Italian aeros working for Mclaren and other English teams - shows that those who said Italian aero schools are not good enough are wrong.
Do not know where this guy studied though - IIRC both CInelli and De Luca studied in UK

[kooleracer]

Jarrod Murphy Head of CFD from Lotus also made to move the Mercedes.

@lio007 a very interesting move Alex White, Mechanical Design Engineer, from Mercedes HPP to Lotus. Why is do you think this particular move is interesting? According to his linkedin profile he only worked 13 months at Brixworth.

Tbh...I did some wild speculation, because Lotus hasn't announced their engine supplier. My wild speculation was that Lotus buy the PU's from Mercedes and Alex White give them some support in terms of integration. But on the other hand, as you mentioned, he was only 13 month at Brixworth and can a Mechanical Design Engineer give appropriate support, I don't think so. And last but not least, this would be a pretty late move to give them support, because at this stage the design should be finished.
Altogether I simply think it is interesting that an Engineer from Mercedes HPP works now in Enstone, no more no less.
What do you think?

In terms of Jarrod Murphy, he was linked to Ferrari as well as to Mercedes. AFAIK there were never any official conformation either for Ferrari or Mercedes.
There were also rumors about two CFD engineers from Lotus - Paul Cusdin and James Crook. They wished to go to Caterham, so Caterham agreed for Kovalainen to drive for Lotus free of charge in return for Lotus cutting short the usual "gardening leave" period for those two engineers and allowing them to start work at Caterham much sooner than would otherwise be possible.
...but now I'm again drifting into speculation and rumors, what I don't want to.

Murphy has been confirmed by a news article on AMuS. They call him Gerald Murphy funny enough. So Lotus staff is even taking jobs at Caterham. I heard rumours that the majority of Lotus staff were applying for jobs with other teams. This really seams to be the case. About the PU supplier i really think that Lotus could go for the cheapest option, I personally don't think that Renault is the only option. It could be a BrawnGP Saga were they switch last minute. Ferrari is the cheapest option, maybe Allison and De Beer is an indication that they let them go without gardening leave for a better engine deal who knows. Renault PU is the most expensive according to paddock rumours and Renault also indicating that 3 teams was the ideal situation for them. Williams switch to Mercedes because of the high price of the Renault PU. Lotus F1 is not in the position to go for a more expensive option when there are cheaper options available.

Renault PU price: 21M Euro a season
Mercedes PU price: 16.5M Euro a season
Ferrari PU: 14.7M Euro a season

[kooleracer]

The fact they signed Peter Prodromou shows the wallet strings have opened, IMO. I'm sure there's a nice Italian restaurant somewhere near Woking.

I agree - there are already some Italian aeros working for Mclaren and other English teams - shows that those who said Italian aero schools are not good enough are wrong.
Do not know where this guy studied though - IIRC both CInelli and De Luca studied in UK

Bologna, like most Italian engineers in F1.

[mclaren_mircea]

There are a lot of people coming to Mclaren, I will present that ones, that were not already presented.

Andrew Jarvis -
Vehicle Dynamics Engineer McLaren Racing
Public Company; 501-1000 employees; Automotive industry
March 2013 – Present (10 months) Woking

Marieclaire Smid
Structural Design Engineer McLaren Racing
Public Company; 501-1000 employees; Automotive industry
August 2013 – Present (5 months)

Guillermo Vilaplana
Aerodynamicist McLaren Racing
Public Company; 501-1000 employees; Automotive industry
January 2013 – Present (1 year)

Andy Garratt
Spares Co-ordinator McLaren Racing
Public Company; 501-1000 employees; Automotive industry
March 2013 – Present (10 months) Woking, Surrey

Brian Gruncell
CFD Engineer McLaren Racing
Public Company; 501-1000 employees; Automotive industry
May 2013 – Present (8 months)

Ian Giles
Composite technician McLaren Racing
Public Company; 501-1000 employees; Automotive industry
April 2013 – Present (9 months)

Steven Reichard
Aerodynamic Design Engineer McLaren Group Ltd.
Privately Held; 1001-5000 employees; Automotive industry
February 2013 – Present (11 months) London, United Kingdom

Indi Kaur
Recruitment Assistant McLaren Racing
Public Company; 501-1000 employees; Automotive industry
September 2013 – Present (4 months) Woking

The source is http://uk.linkedin.com/

[kooleracer]

Good info, but these are employees that don't have experience with other F1 teams. Every team recruit freshblood every year. But I think personally this thread was made map out how F1 staff is moving between teams. These new additions you have mentioned will a start at the bottom. Whereas the names mentioned before are big names in the F1 paddock.

[lio007]

Good info, but these are employees that don't have experience with other F1 teams. Every team recruit freshblood every year. But I think personally this thread was made map out how F1 staff is moving between teams. These new additions you have mentioned will a start at the bottom. Whereas the names mentioned before are big names in the F1 paddock.

Exactly!

@mclaren_mircea: nevertheless, some of your recruitments were not on my "watchlist". I've now added them. Thank you for your list!

[lio007]

I've updated the initial post, with some recent movings.

Sad for Lotus, another Lead-engineer left the team.

[Manoah2u]

weren't there a lot of RB staff going to other teams aswell? maybe it's me but i can't see them in the list and i'm not that deeply delved into the staff members [yet].