F1 Composite Design Engineer – Body & Structures
UK · Europe · USA · Permanent · Formula 1 · Confidential search
Composite design is one of Formula 1’s hidden performance battlegrounds. It decides how light the car can be, how stiff it is in exactly the places that matter, and whether the driver walks away from an impact. For 2026 the car is thirty kilograms lighter, shorter and narrower, while the FIA’s safety tests have only got harder. Lighter and stronger are no longer a trade-off. Both have to be true of the same part, at the same time.
We are talking confidentially with Formula 1 teams in the UK, Europe and the USA who need composite designers for bodywork and primary structures. If that is the work you already do, we would like to talk.
THE WORK
Aero surfaces
Turning the surfaces the aerodynamicists need into floors, wings, bodywork and covers that carry their loads, fit the packaging and can be built and re-built quickly through a season. On a 2026 car that includes moving aero surfaces that still have to feed their loads safely into the structure beneath them.
Primary structures
Survival cell, crash structures, roll hoop and halo mounting, and the suspension and gearbox interfaces – designed ply by ply to pass the FIA’s static and dynamic tests first time.
Surface to schema to layup
Owning the chain from surface to structural schema to layup playbook: ply count, fibre orientation and stacking sequence for every load case, then through tooling, layup, autoclave cure, trim, bonding, NDT and assembly. Break the chain anywhere and the part arrives late, heavy or without the stiffness the lap time depends on.
Getting it right under the cost cap
With tooling and capital spend now inside the cap, every reworked part consumes budget that can’t be recovered elsewhere. The engineers teams value most get the design right with fewer physical iterations.
What you’ll bring
Formula 1 composite design experience, with a race team or a technical partner, on bodywork, primary structures or both. This search is for engineers with F1 or endurance racing experience only.
A real understanding of laminate design and load paths, and the confidence to work closely with stress and FEA colleagues.
CATIA V5 / 3DEXPERIENCE or an equivalent CAD system, used at F1 pace.
Hands-on knowledge of how a part gets made: prepreg layup, tooling, autoclave curing, bonding and inspection.
The agility to move between aero, vehicle dynamics, systems and manufacturing rather than sitting inside one department.
A degree in mechanical, aeronautical or materials engineering, or equivalent experience. What you’ve designed and seen go racing matters more than the certificate.
How we work with you
This is a career-fit conversation, not a spec-fit one.
Confidential from the first call. Nothing goes to a team without your agreement, and we won’t name the teams publicly.
Honest about the move. We’ll tell you where you sit in the market and weigh it fairly against what’s genuinely good about where you are now. Sometimes the right answer is to stay.
Realistic about timing. We understand F1 notice periods and gardening leave, and plan the move around them.
Managed from first contact to first day. Briefing, interviews, offer, resignation and the months in between.
Start a confidential conversation
Book a confidential career review with Scarlett
Tiro is a specialist Employment Agency & Employment Business assisting with both contract and permanent opportunities in high performance cars, motorsport, software, electronics, engineering & manufacturing.
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