Salary for Aerodynamics Engineer on Formula One Team

My experience is in amateur racing (landspeed racing at Bonneville), not the high level profesional practice of Formula 1 teams. So I don't speak from the position of an insider.

I suspect they (the hiring folks in a Formula 1 organization wouldn't give your resume a second look if you couldn't show substantial knowledge and no small amount of reputation and experience in the design, performance and operational requirements of their types of race cars. In my opinion your salary per year could range from zero, you pay your own expenses and make an appointment before you come to visit their shops up to perhaps US$150,000 plus travel expenses for one who has demonstrated an ability to give a measurable edge to a professional race team and can make serious contributions under the heat of race competition schedules.

For example giving the right advice on the type of pit stop repairs to attempt to a race car that has sustained some damage during the race. You need to know what to do then and there and will have no time to study your notebook let alone do calculations or wind tunnel tests. Or for example knowing which of several dozen possible variations in a body design to test (and how to test them) in a schedule that has only enough time for two runs in the tunnel and a couple of detailed computer simulations.

Virtually every part of a Formula 1 race car has a multiple of functions. You must know and understand the interelationsips of all these functions before designing anything down to the tiniest fastener head. And if you are an engineer your knowledge is expected to be in actual numbers, not just "this is better than that" subjective "analysis".

Are you ready for that? Is the salary really important to you? Then you are looking in the wrong place to sell your talents unless you are very good at that business.

Ed Weldon