Race engineer

A race engineer is a motorsport team member whose role is to communicate with the data analyst as well as the mechanics to determine the changes to be made to the vehicle. Off the race track, the race engineer analyzes historical data to determine the initial set up for the next race event. The race engineer function includes hands-on management of the vehicle mechanics, organizing testing schedule, as well as studying the regulations. The race engineer seeks to make all these activities occur as seamlessly as possible for their driver.

In addition, the vehicle set-up must stay within the regulations for the race event. The primary goal of the race engineer is to achieve the best performance from the vehicle and from the driver at the race track.

A good race engineer must have good interpersonal relationship skills. To be effective, the race engineer must have a good working relationship with not only his driver, but also the rest of the team, both at and away from the track. Many times the race engineer is also "the face" of the team for the media; this is especially true during the race while the driver is inaccessible. This makes the race engineers media skills a priority.

The role of the race engineer on racing teams has grown in importance since the adoption of on-board sensors in vehicles to collect performance data. The race engineer's job is to evaluate both the vehicle's performance, gathered from the telemetry in addition to their driver's feedback. The race engineer then seeks to improve the performance, and the drivers desires, by adjusting suspension, engine calibrations, aerodynamics, and other variables which affect the vehicle's performance on the race track.

Race engineers tend to travel extensively, especially during the racing season of their motorsport teams. At the highest level of professional motorsports, international travel is common. Off season travel for race engineers is usually for testing, training, and visiting vendors.