Martin Galpin

My final year project was a great opportunity to explore ideas around data analysis in motorsports. Looking back, ideas I had during that period were foundations for how I later approached problems when I started working in Formula 1. F1 has always been a demanding environment but is ever more so with the new financial regulations and budget cap.

I now work for Red Bull Racing and the breadth of what we achieve with a relatively small number of people is really impressive. The challenge for us is to ensure we spend our resource on projects that actually make the car faster and genuinely provide a competitive advantage. This isn’t always easy, especially now we have an artificial limit on our growth and spending!

As a leader, it’s important to remain technical, even as your level of responsibility grows to make sure your overall contribution and decision making remains at the maximum. My department sits at the heart of the technical office between the aerodynamics and vehicle dynamics teams. We build the software that enables us to design and optimise car - from CFD visualisation, through the wind tunnel, the driver-in-the-loop simulators and the race track with race strategy. The team’s commitment to technology, particularly software and modelling, has been a real differentiator from our competitors and is a key part of our success.

My fondest memories of Essex are the support that everyone gave me and the opportunity to chase my dreams, no matter how unattainable they might have seemed at the time. I wouldn’t be where I am today without that support!