The F1 Technical Developments Thread

Red_Bull said:
Is the pay poor, or is it just the amount of hours worked?

I read Steve Matchett's books and he details the annual salary he got as a race mechanic which on it's own he thought was a good figure, but when he started factoring in the massive amount of hours he put in, it worked out to be a very small amount :p. It's a lifestyle, you probably wouldn't do it if you didn't have a love of your job, employer/team and industry.
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So what's the actual salary?

I've heard about many people, some on this forum included, who say that recently graduated engineers in the UK get shit pay. I have a hard time believing this as my girlfriend who studies pharmacy says it's not unusual to see a ?40k+ pay after a handful of years. Surely an engineer would get as much? In Norway as a graduate you can easily start with close to 400.000 kroner which is about ~?40k, altho the level of pay is obviously a lot higher. It's actually almost the opposite here, cos pretty much every phamarcy is owned by a big company so I can only imagine the salary will never be that amazing.

The UK is such a big engineering industry aswell (atleast compared to Norway), so..... why?

(untidy post but whatever)
 
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Well at the start of the 1996 season as a flyaway mechanic his base rate was ?26025 as published in his book, which would be worth about ?33000 today. Remember Matchett was a mechanic, not an engineer.
 
?33000 translates to US$54391, which is pretty reasonable for a mechanic. That also doesnt take into account any overtime bonuses, allowances, shift penalties, etc.
 
Red_Bull said:
?33000 translates to US$54391, which is pretty reasonable for a mechanic. That also doesnt take into account any overtime bonuses, allowances, shift penalties, etc.
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Yeah around $50k (AUD) sounds pretty decent for a graduate. That's what I'm expecting when I get a job (as an engineer) here.
 
WillDAQ said:
Typical starting wage for a graduate engineer is ?24-26k.
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But I assume it will differ between companies and as you work there the first years it'll grow year by year?

(my judgement about salary might be clouded cos it's generally quite high in Norway, but as you know, same goes with living costs...)
 
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ahpadt said:
But I assume it will differ between companies and as you work there the first years it'll grow year by year?

(my judgement about salary might be clouded cos it's generally quite high in Norway, but as you know, same goes with living costs...)
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If you worked for a defence company you'd be looking at maybe 3% increase PA with occasional step increases with promotion. Would probably be looking at ?50-60k retiring wage.

Alternately you can jump around or become a consultant to boost that up a bit quicker... or go into finance and start on ?50k.
 
You're looking at this all wrong. F1 enthusiasts PAY to go to races. A mechanic gets paid and gets up close and personal with teams and cars. I'd love that.
 
SchumacherM said:
You're looking at this all wrong. F1 enthusiasts PAY to go to races. A mechanic gets paid and gets up close and personal with teams and cars. I'd love that.
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Basically, THIS. I'd take any job that pays enough to make a decent living and i love doing over a higher-paid job that i don't like. In fact, the monthly salary i get now (as a postgrad researcher at a University) is about the same as my weekly rate when i was still working in film was. But i feel much better with my current job situation then i did before.
 
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Before you start flaming me, I'm not really talking about F1 - it's about electronical engineering, doing car electronics could be fun for example - as I rate my chances of getting into that area ultra slim.
 
Yeah, I kinda got that, but the subject opened with F1 mechanics...and I can't think of a better dream job.
 
SchumacherM said:
You're looking at this all wrong. F1 enthusiasts PAY to go to races. A mechanic gets paid and gets up close and personal with teams and cars. I'd love that.
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I wanna be that guy that holds the umbrella for the driver when its sunny out.
 
I wanna be the babe that ... ... wait, hold on.
 
Dr_Grip said:
Basically, THIS. I'd take any job that pays enough to make a decent living and i love doing over a higher-paid job that i don't like.
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Yeah, that's why after studying telecommunications now I'm motoring journalist.

Pininfarina_ said:
I wanna be that guy that holds the umbrella for the driver when its sunny out.
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Well, these guys who holds the umbrellas are drivers' personal trainers.
 
SchumacherM said:
A mechanic gets paid and gets up close and personal with teams and cars. I'd love that.
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Yes, but with all due respect the mechanics aren't the ones who ultimately make the cars go faster.

It's the engineers back at the factory (who don't fly round the world, but just work bloody long hours) who should get paid more than they do.
 
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