Mercedes Formula 1 team visits Durham

By Samara Patel

Walking around Durham’s F1 event on Wednesday, I was surrounded by Mercedes. A model of their car sat on library square, driver George Russell’s gloves were folded on a table, and his race helmet was close enough to touch. Even better, members of the Mercedes F1 team were walking around. I got the opportunity to speak with three team members, Charley, Daisy and Robert, about the Mercedes culture and what it’s really like to meet the drivers. 

Can you introduce yourself, and your role within the team?

Charley: I’m Charley, a graduate aerodynamics student. I work on the design of the aerodynamic components of the car. We’re designing the front wing, so what profiles we use in the front wing, the aerodynamics, and making more downforce for the car. 

Daisy: Hi, I’m Daisy. I do health and well-being. I cover everything from human performance, medical, and psychology. It’s mostly for the team, so the race team, those who travel and do pit stops, but also the team at Brackley – the engineers and all the designers. It’s a big team, but everybody keeps the morale up. 

Robert: I’m Richard, I’m the chief engineer in the car design group, so I’m responsible for the next car. Essentially, it boils down to collecting every performance area of the car, engineering performance, aerodynamics, vehicle dynamics, and making sure that we make a decision on the right set of compromises. 

What was the process of getting and working this job?

Charley: At Monash University, we had a performance unit team. You learn a lot of the fundamentals through there, as well as just getting used to designing. You get a taste for it – doing something under pressure and then having to deliver something. I was interested in aerodynamics and applied for an industrial placement. After the placement, I was lucky enough to be asked to talk about work after grad. 

Daisy: The application process was quite competitive. I got a phone call, luckily. I definitely think about F1 differently now. I was always a fan, but I think you don’t realise how much effort actually goes in. It’s more exciting watching it. I never really had a team that I supported, but now I feel like I’ve got a connection to Mercedes. 

Robert: I was head of electronics before. The early part of my career, when I started out, was terrifying watching the races. You didn’t want to cause a problem. But you get to the point where you know you’ve done everything you can. Before the lights go out, you genuinely can say, I’ve done everything I can to this point. If you’re worried about races, you’ll never get any sleep. 

What’s it like working at Mercedes F1?

Charley: I think Mercedes-Benz as a team has always been super innovative. I think over the years, it’s always just been F1 is pushing the boundaries of engineering. That’s why we want to be at the front and be really innovative, which is one of the key values of the team. There are 1,400 people in the company, so you split up into different areas. But yeah, it’s a lot of collaboration. 

Daisy: Everybody’s so supportive and helpful. It helps that everybody sort of has the same goal – our one goal above everything is just to win. I feel like everybody’s so passionate,no matter what happens. If things go wrong, if things go right, everybody’s got each other’s backs. If we’ve won a race on Monday, it’s great. We have a debrief, there’s champagne, everybody wants their P1 tops. But then if we don’t do as well as we thought, there isn’t necessarily a down shift, we just sort of get on with it and think about what we can do better. 

Robert: I was there in a previous incarnation when it wasn’t Mercedes. The culture is still the same. That’s why I love it there – the people, the team, the culture, the atmosphere. The people around you inspire you to do better. You don’t want to let anybody down. That’s the thing that really makes the difference. The car design group which I’m part of are the people who kind of decide what compromises we’re going to make. And we make those quite early, so you have to make a decision based on the knowledge that you’ve got that affects next year’s car and the current car. 

Who are you rooting for between Kimi and George, the two Mercedes F1 drivers? 

Charley: I don’t really mind who wins, as long as one of them wins. I’m Australian, so I have to say Oscar Piastri is my favourite. 

Daisy: Kimi. I’m on placement with the team, so Kimi started at a similar time to me. They’re really nice. They’re both quite humble. Kimi is genuinely so excited to be there; he’s so happy to chat to anyone. George is a bit more like, he’s got a bit more aura. He struts around. 

Robert: Doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter to me. 

Thank you Mercedes F1 for visiting us here in Durham, and good luck to everyone involved!

Images by Josh Prowse