Nick Chester

He graduated from Cambridge University in 1991 to join Simtek Research in vehicle simulation, moving to their Formula One entry in 1994. He joined Arrows in 1995, first for vehicle simulation then suspension design before becoming Performance Engineer for Damon Hill and Pedro Diniz, then Race Engineer for Mika Salo and Pedro de la Rosa.[1]

In 2000, Chester joined Benetton, as Test Engineer to Alexander Wurz, Giancarlo Fisichella and Mark Webber. He then became Performance Engineer for Fisichella in 2001 and Jarno Trulli from 2002–2004, overseeing the Italian's only F1 victory (Monaco 2004).[2]

From 2005, Nick took on the position of Head of Vehicle Performance Group, contributing towards Renault's double championship wins of 2005 and 2006, including the development of the tuned mass damper system, which was a major innovation during that era.[3]

In 2010 he was made head of performance systems. From 2012, he was appointed engineering director of Lotus, playing a major part in the race winning E20 and E21. A year later, he replaced James Allison as the team's Technical Director therefore being responsible for the design and development of every Formula One car to come out of Enstone from May 2013 until January 2020.[4]

In January 2020 Nick Chester was replaced by Pat Fry at Renault.[5]

• Race Engineer – Arrows Grand Prix (1995–2000)
• Race Engineer – Benetton Formula (2000–2001)
• Race Engineer – Renault F1 (2002–2005)
• Head of Vehicle Performance Group – Renault F1 (2005–2010)
• Head of Performance Systems – Renault F1 (2010–2012)
• Engineering Director – Lotus F1 (2012–2013)
• Technical Director – Lotus F1 (2013–2015)
• Chassis Technical Director – Renault F1 (2016–2019)