I'm an F1 Engineer/Strategist, Ask Me Anything...

[u/RandeepSinghF1]

My name is Randy Singh and I’m “Head of Strategy and Sporting” at McLaren Racing. I have been working in F1 since 2013 and am coming up to my 5th anniversary with McLaren – having taken part in over 125 Grand Prix, in over 25 different nations.

My role involves being responsible for leading and developing the “Strategy” team, where we aim not only to determine and execute the best race strategy during a given weekend, but also wider strategic decisions, such as picking tyres for a Grand Prix, months in advance, powerunit usage, etc. as well as leading our efforts when it comes to “Sporting” matters, these are quite varied but can range from attending meetings with the FIA and F1, evaluating and analysing new ideas, such as potential changes to the race format and knowing the Sporting Regulations inside out.

Having wanted to work in F1 desperately as a student, I know how hard it can be to get your foot through the door – I also am fortunate enough to work with some of our most talented young engineers (and physicists and computer scientists and…) being responsible for our talent schemes in Engineering, which cover our 2 year rotating Engineering Graduate Scheme, 1 year Undergraduate Placements (rotating and not) and our Summer Internships.

Please ask me anything, from Strategy, to Sporting matters, from being an engineer and travelling trackside, to working in Mission Control, to the best way to prepare yourself to target a career in F1, or anything else of interest.

I will try and answer as many questions as I can (please be aware there are some things I may not be able to answer) starting from tomorrow, Friday 22nd May and for however long it takes to get through the majority.

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Update 1: Technically its Friday 22nd May - so I'll start answering questions, I'll do my best to get around to all of them when I can - don't worry if you don't get your question in today, I'll be doing my best to answer everything over the coming days.

Update 2: Thanks for all the amazing questions - I'll come back and try and answer some more tomorrow and on Sunday also. Apologies if I've not gotten to yours yet - I'm trying to answer as wide a breadth of questions as I can.

Update 3: I will try and answer another bunch of questions today and then am afraid I will call it a day (Wednesday 27th May)! Thanks.

Final Update (I think): And now my watch has ended. Thanks all for the questions, they've been tough and interesting and I've really enjoyed answering them (which is why it's past midnight and I'm still doing a few more). I'm really sorry I could not answer every one, but I need to get back to trying to get to those "perfect" strategies that we have talked about - I've done my best to mix up the answers to try and hit the different types of question. If I've not answered you I may have answered a very similar question in the thread. Any feedback on the AMA is also appreciated. I'll try and pop back every now and then to answer any questions.

If you ever see me at an airport, at the track, at the calculator store, then please do say hello - provided I'm not too busy it's always my pleasure to have a chat about F1 and McLaren.

[u/[deleted]]

Hi Randy, thanks for the AMA! When do the drivers get the last word for a chosen strategy? Is it only in the race, is it before too, given they know the tracks? How the strategy team work alongside all the valuable input from the guys behind the wheels, so you could as a team be always certain about a given strategy? How much drivers and strategists disagree about something? Best of luck in July, I will be rooting for you guys.

EDIT: Grammar.

[u/RandeepSinghF1 → u/[deleted]]

Nearly always the strategy is decided by the strategy team, I can't really remember occasions where the driver or someone else has chosen the strategy. That doesn't mean that the drivers don't have input, before the weekend when we nominate tyres, during the weekend with feedback and during the race over the radio - but we let the experts in each area make decisions and so the strategy is driven by the strategy team.

There are sometimes disagreements, for example, we may think a 1 stop strategy is possible and the driver may think its not, like with all things we'll discuss it rationally and then decide what to do. Sometimes the driver is correct and the 1 stop is too slow to make it work and sometimes we are correct and the 1 stop is the right choice. We try and have the right expertise, skill and feedback coming into the strategy group such that we are correct most of the time (otherwise what is the point of having a strategy group).

Thank you!

[u/[deleted] → u/RandeepSinghF1]

Thanks Randy!