20 January 2023 , 19:15
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Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna and Fernando Alonso – not a bad list of Formula 1 drivers to have worked with.
Pat Symonds is someone who can claim to have worked closely with all three of the F1 champions. Today he is the sport's chief technical officer, but in the past worked for a number of different teams, and with some of the best drivers F1 has ever seen.
Recalling his time working as Schumacher's race engineer at Benetton in 1994, the year in which he won his first title, Symonds spoke about a particular quirk of the German's which made it so tricky for his team-mates to match his performances.
"Michael, he liked a very unstable car," the 69-year-old said. "It may make the car very quick, but you need to be a damn good driver to drive this. We used to set his car up in quite an unstable manner, and his teammates often struggled with that, because of the way it was."
Long before that, Symonds was the chief engineer at Toleman when Senna made his debut in the sport. Of the legendary Brazilian, he said: "It was in the days before we had really any data acquisition, we were just building our first data acquisition devices.
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"So we were relying on the driver an awful lot, even down to what revs he was pulling at the end of the straight. Have we got the right top gear in? What's the water and oil temperature? Have we got the radiators blanked correctly? Things like that. As well as driving the car fast, as well as being tactical, we were having to think of all these things."
Pat Symonds is now F1's chief technical officer (Getty Images)Later came Symonds' time as director of engineering at Renault, who employed Alonso when he won his two world titles in the mid-2000s. What set the Spaniard apart, in his eyes, was the feel he had for his car and the way he could use that to help guide the team in terms of their development and setups.
He said: "By the time we get to Fernando, we know a hell of a lot more about what's happening with the car than he does in terms of [data]. So then what you're really looking for, is you're looking for the driver who can interpret how you turn the vehicle dynamics into something that the driver can handle."
The key to all of their success, Symonds claims, is the self confidence –arrogance, even – needed by all top racers. "There are certain characteristics of the drivers that do carry through and the prime one is having a huge self-esteem. Every good driver believes that they're not just a good driver, but the best driver. And that's really, really important."