Renault F1 Team announced that Nick Chester will leave Renault F1 Team and has begun a period of garden leave. After 19 years of working hard for the team, Nick will be shown the door. The teams said:

The team wishes Nick well for the future and thanks him for his significant contribution to the team’s achievements.

Nick Chester commented:

“I have enjoyed 19 years in a team with great spirit and have worked with an incredibly loyal and talented group of people. I am looking forward to a new challenge and wish everybody in the team all the best for the future.”

Cyril Abiteboul, Managing Director, Renault Sport Racing:

“Nick has been a key part of Enstone for almost 20 years. His passion for the team has never wavered, despite experiencing some extremely challenging times. More recently, his commitment, technical insight and enthusiasm have inspired us to move from the back of the grid to the front of the midfield. We would like to sincerely thank Nick for everything and wish him every success in the next stage of his career.”

Career

Nick graduated from Cambridge in 1991 and joined Simtek Research in vehicle simulation. His first taste of Formula 1 came in 1994 with Simtek, before joining Arrows Grand Prix in 1995 for vehicle simulation and later suspension design. Nick was Performance Engineer for Damon Hill and Pedro Diniz in 1997 and then Race Engineer for Mika Salo and Pedro de la Rosa between 1998 and 1999.

Nick then moved to Benetton in 2000 as Test Engineer, working with Alexander Wurz, Giancarlo Fisichella and Mark Webber. Nick advanced to Performance Engineer for Fisichella in 2001 and Jarno Trulli in 2002-2004, contributing to the Italian’s sole Grand Prix win in Monaco in 2004.

2005 saw Nick step up to Head of Vehicle Performance Group (VPG), playing a part in 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.

Nick became Head of Performance Systems in 2010 and then Engineering Director in 2011, contributing to the development of the race winning E20 and E21. Nick then took the role as Technical Director responsible for the design and development of every Formula 1 car to come out of Enstone since 2013, including 2019’s R.S.19.