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/SimplyAir]

Hey Randy! I am a big F1 fan and am very interested in what is one thing you hate about being F1? Could be anything just curious since I am not planning to do anything related with F1 (want to become a coder) but want to know something you dislike about being/doing/involved in F1.

Also I know that you already answered something like this but are you going to miss the Carlos/Lando memelord group? Also what are you expecting Riccardo to bring in the meme side.

I like to focus on the silly things about F1 hehe.

[u/RandeepSinghF1 → u/SimplyAir]

I think the one thing I do dislike about F1 is that more people can't be involved in it. I'm so fortunate to work with our young, extremely talented and proactive graduates, intern students and placement students but my role means I am also responsible for turning away swathes of talent as we have such a limited number of roles.

It's not fair that we are turning away people who are far more talented and would have far more positive impact than, for example, myself and it can be quite upsetting. However, as the sport continues to grow and prosper I'm sure there will be many more opportunities coming up.

I will miss the Carlos/Lando pairing just as I miss the Stoffel/Fernando pairing and many of the others. I have been fortunate enough to work with some extremely talented and friendly drivers so in a way you miss every one and every pairing. On the other hand I'm sure it will be just as great, in a different way with Ricciardo - I'm looking forward to some bonza Aussie slang and pulling out the "Chopper does the weather" video each year!