Case studies – Team McLaren Mercedes
Mark Slade is a race engineer for the Team McLaren Mercedes Formula One team. We asked Mark about his role with the company, what he does and how he got the job.
Can you give us a bit of background on the company?
The McLaren Group, which is based in Woking, UK, has a diverse range of companies: McLaren Automotive (high-performance road cars); McLaren Electronic Systems (automotive electronic systems); McLaren Marketing (marketing services); Absolute Taste (catering); Lydden Circuit (race track) and Team McLaren (supporters' club and e-commerce business) and of course McLaren Racing, which operates the Team McLaren Mercedes Formula One team.
The McLaren Group operates from a 60,000m² Technology Centre which provides research, development and manufacturing facilities, as well as one of the world's most advanced automotive wind tunnels.
McLaren Racing, the company behind Team McLaren Mercedes, was formed in 1980 following the merger of Team McLaren and Project Four, our CEO and Chairman Ron Dennis' racing company. McLaren Racing has a large number of departments in administration and engineering, ranging from vehicle design and aerodynamics, to materials science and paint shop.
What is your role within the company?
I'm Kimi Raikkonen's race engineer, which means I'm in charge of optimising his car's performance at the track, working closely with Kimi, other specialist engineers and the mechanics.
What is it like to work for McLaren?
Quite hectic! Formula One is a fascinating business that's quite fast-paced, has lots of immediate challenges to be faced, with the results coming back at you fairly quickly. Team McLaren Mercedes, one of the top teams in the business, has a very good-quality workforce and approach. The facilities are excellent at the McLaren Technology Centre and it's quite an inspiring place to work.
What equipment do you use in your job?
I don't actually physically make anything. I use a laptop for passing information around and generating documents, because my job is mainly a technical administration job and making use of simulation tools to determine how to operate the car. I'm not an engineer in the sense that I'm not calculating stresses or coming up with new components, rather I'm working towards maximising the car's performance.
What kind of environment do you work in?
A combination of office-based and trackside, both at Grands Prix and tests.
How many hours do you work each week?
It really depends what I'm doing, where I am in the world and what our particular work schedule is at a given time. When away at races, we of course work weekends. When we're testing during the week, we inevitably end up working during the evening.
Are you responsible for making a lot of decisions?
That's pretty much what my job is; a decision-making role. I make use of the information I'm presented with and use my experience to come to decisions based on facts.
What's the best thing about working at your company?
I'm passionate about motor sport and have been since I was a kid, so it's great to be involved in the sport. It's an industry where you get to see results on a fortnightly basis, so it's satisfying. You don't have to wait five or ten years for a result.
What qualifications do you need to do your job?
People come into this role from various routes, but the most conventional is to get a good university degree in an engineering-based discipline, such as mechanical or aerodynamics, and then to get experience – that's vital. There are of course, people in similar jobs without the degree because they've shown ability in other areas.
What particular skills or knowledge is required to do your job?
Analysis of data and of situations is vital, and an understanding of vehicle dynamics and aerodynamics is helpful. Having a feel for how the cars work is important. Personal skills are also key as you need to work with the whole team and your driver.
What particular skills or knowledge is required to work for the company?
McLaren is all about attention to detail and striving to be the best, and our skills and knowledge need to work towards those values. You have to be prepared to put in the hours, but I would say that's the nature of the business rather than particular to McLaren.
What are some of the main challenges in your job?
You're away from home quite a lot, but the main challenge is trying to get the most out of the car. The company exists for that. It's a question of dealing with high-pressure situations, changing circumstances and you've got to be fairly quick-witted and deal with challenges as they turn up.
Engineering is sometimes seen as an old-fashioned career by young people. Why do you think that is?
I don't think people appreciate how much engineering is involved in modern technologies. 'Proper' engineering – coming up with new ideas and components – is widespread. Computer games require engineering as do mobile phones, so in reality, engineering is about everything that we do.
McLaren strongly believes in encouraging young people to take up engineering disciplines, and has been involved in programmes over the years that aim to motivate and encourage young people to take up careers within the conventional scientific and technical fields.
Engineering is often seen as a male-dominated role. Is that still the case?
These days it's a modern environment using modern equipment; I don't think it's that much different from other jobs.
What was your first engineering project?
I worked for a company called Reynard Racing Cars. I was designing parts for junior formula racing cars, such as Formula 3 cars and Formula 2000 cars. After two years on the job, another young engineer and I were given sole responsibility for designing a F3 car, and it went on to win a couple of races: the Monaco Grand Prix support race and the British Grand Prix support race.
What would be your dream project?
This is it. I grew up as a kid wanting to be involved in motor racing and grew up to fulfil my ambitions, so I don't actually have a dream of getting anything beyond this. I'm very lucky.
What job do you think you'll be doing in the next five or ten years? What will you need to get there?
This was my ambition and I got here, so I'm happy to stay where I am for the time being until somebody thinks I'm not good enough to do it any more!
What words of advice would you give to young people thinking about taking up an engineering role of some sort?
I would encourage people to go for it because I think science and technology has a huge amount to offer. Engineering is really turning ideas into real products and that can give people a real kick. Even if it turns out that you don't want an engineering role itself, the training that you go through to get into engineering gives you a good background for a lot of other disciplines as well.
