Misplaced Pages

Nick Chester (born 22 March 1969) is a motorsport engineer.

Early life

Chester graduated in engineering from Cambridge University in 1991.

Career

Chester joined Simtek Research in vehicle simulation, moving to their Formula One entry in 1994. He moved on to Arrows in 1995, first for vehicle simulation, and then to suspension design. He became performance engineer for Damon Hill and Pedro Diniz, then race engineer for Mika Salo and Pedro de la Rosa.

In 2000, Chester joined Benetton as test engineer to Alexander Wurz, Giancarlo Fisichella, and Mark Webber. He became performance engineer for Fisichella in 2001 and Jarno Trulli from 2002 to 2004, overseeing the Italian's only F1 victory (Monaco 2004).

Chester took on the position of head of Renault's Vehicle Performance Group (VPG) in 2005, contributing towards Renault's double championship wins of 2005 and 2006 (F1 Constructors' Championship and Drivers' Championship for Fernando Alonso). Chester oversaw the development of the tuned mass damper system, which was a major innovation. In 2010 Chester was made head of performance systems.

In 2012, Chester was appointed engineering director of Lotus, playing a major part in the race winning E20 and E21 F1 cars. A year later, he replaced James Allison as the team's Technical Director, therefore being responsible for the design and development of every Formula One car to come out of Enstone from May 2013 until January 2020.

In January 2020 Chester was replaced by Pat Fry at Renault. Chester joined the Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team as technical director in July 2020.

In March 2023, Chester joined Andretti Global as the technical director for its Formula 1 project.

Career timeline

• Performance engineer – Arrows Grand Prix (1995–2000)
• Performance engineer – Benetton Formula (2000–2001)
• Performance engineer – Renault F1 (2002–2005)
• Head of vehicle Performance Group – Renault F1 (2005–2010)
• Head of performance systems – Renault F1 (2010–2012)
• Engineering director – Lotus F1 (2012–2013)
• Technical director – Lotus F1 (2013–2015)
• Chassis technical director – Renault F1 (2016–2019)
• Technical director – Mercedes-Benz Formula E (2020–2022)
• Technical director – McLaren Formula E (2022–2023)

References

1. "SPEEDWEEK Steckbrief Nicholas Chester". www.speedweek.com (in German). 10 February 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
2. ^ Brown, Allen. "Nick Chester". OldRacingCars.com. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
3. ^ "Nick Chester to leave Renault F1 after 19 years". theparcferme.com. 7 December 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
4. ^ Übler, Jochen (22 July 2020). "Nick Chester welcome to the Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E team - automobilsport.com". www.automobilsport.com.
5. "Nick Chester Appointed Lotus F1 Team Technical Director". racecar.com. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
6. ^ "Chester to leave Renault". pitpass. 6 December 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
7. Castillo, Nicolas (24 July 2020). "Nick Chester nuevo Director Técnico de Mercedes FE". www.formulanitro.com (in Mexican Spanish). Retrieved 14 February 2021.
8. ^ "Lotus appoints Nick Chester as James Allison's replacement". Autosport. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
9. "Renault's Chassis Technical Director Nick Chester to leave the team". formula1.com. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
10. ^ Smith, Luke (22 July 2020). "Ex-Renault F1's Chester joins Mercedes Formula E team". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
11. Boxall-Legge, Jake (14 March 2023). "Ex-Renault tech chief Chester set for Andretti F1 role". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
12. ^ "Renault Sport Formula One Team Chassis Technical Director Nick Chester". Nissan Official Global Newsroom. 10 May 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
13. ^ Ferret, Olivier (3 February 2016). "Renault F1 launch: Q&A with Nick Chester". Nextgen-Auto.com. Retrieved 14 February 2021.

v t e Arrows
Arrows Grand Prix International (1978–1990) Notable personnel Franco Ambrosio Alan Rees Jackie Oliver Tony Southgate David Wass Notable drivers  ITA Mauro Baldi  Austria Gerhard Berger  BEL Thierry Boutsen  ITA Alex Caffi  USA Eddie Cheever  FRG Christian Danner  GBR Martin Donnelly  GBR Brian Henton  Australia Alan Jones  FRG Jochen Mass  ITA Riccardo Patrese  FRG Bernd Schneider  BRA Chico Serra  ITA Siegfried Stohr   SWI Marc Surer  FRG Rolf Stommelen  New Zealand Mike Thackwell  CAN Jacques Villeneuve Sr.  GBR Derek Warwick  FRG Manfred Winkelhock Cars FA1 A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A8 A9 A10 A10B A11 A11B
Japan Footwork Arrows (1991–1996) Notable personnel Alan Jenkins Wataru Ohashi Jackie Oliver Mark Preston Notable drivers  ITA Michele Alboreto  ITA Alex Caffi  BRA Christian Fittipaldi  JPN Taki Inoue  ITA Gianni Morbidelli  ITA Max Papis  BRA Ricardo Rosset  JPN Aguri Suzuki  Netherlands Jos Verstappen  GBR Derek Warwick Cars A11C FA12 FA12C FA13 FA13B FA14 FA15 FA16 FA17
TWR Arrows (1997–2002) Notable personnel Nick Chester Mike Coughlan Chris Dyer Eghbal Hamidy Laurent Mekies Steve Nielsen Ossi Oikarinen Nicolò Petrucci Mark Preston Sergio Rinland Rob Taylor Tom Walkinshaw John Walton Notable drivers  BRA Enrique Bernoldi  SPA Pedro de la Rosa  BRA Pedro Diniz  GBR Damon Hill  GER Heinz-Harald Frentzen  FIN Mika Salo  Japan Toranosuke Takagi  Netherlands Jos Verstappen Cars A18 A19 A20 A21 A22 A23

v t e Renault in Formula One
Équipe Renault Elf (1977–1985) Notable personnel Bernard Dudot Gérard Larrousse Jean Sage Michel Têtu Notable drivers Jean-Pierre Jabouille René Arnoux Alain Prost Eddie Cheever Derek Warwick Patrick Tambay Philippe Streiff François Hesnault Formula One cars RS01 RS10 RE20 RE20B RE30 RE30B RE30C RE40 RE50 RE60 RE60B Related Renault Renault Sport
Renault F1 Team (2002–2010) Notable personnel James Allison Bob Bell Éric Boullier Flavio Briatore Dirk de Beer Jean-François Caubet Nick Chester Denis Chevrier Tad Czapski Alain Dassas Tim Densham Mike Elliott Patrick Faure John Iley Ayao Komatsu Gérard López Patrick Louis Eric Lux Rob Marshall Paul Monaghan Jarrod Murphy Rod Nelson Steve Nielsen Alan Permane Simon Rennie Bernard Rey Iñaki Rueda Mark Slade Mark Smith Pat Symonds Rémi Taffin Dino Toso Jon Tomlinson Naoki Tokunaga Jonathan Wheatley Rob White Notable drivers Jarno Trulli Jenson Button Giancarlo Fisichella Heikki Kovalainen Nelson Piquet Jr. Robert Kubica World Champion(s) Fernando Alonso Drivers' titles 2005 2006 Constructors' titles 2005 2006 Formula One cars R202 R23 R24 R25 R26 R27 R28 R29 R30 Related Renault Renault Sport RF1 Driver Programme Renault Formula One crash controversy Team Enstone
Lotus Renault GP (2011) Notable personnel Éric Boullier James Allison Dirk de Beer Jean-François Caubet Nick Chester Tim Densham Mike Elliott Ayao Komatsu Gérard López Patrick Louis Eric Lux Jarrod Murphy Steve Nielsen Alan Permane Iñaki Rueda Simon Rennie Bernard Rey Julien Simon-Chautemps Naoki Tokunaga Drivers Nick Heidfeld Vitaly Petrov Bruno Senna Formula One cars R31 Related Genii Capital Group Lotus LRGP Academy Team Enstone
Renault F1 Team (2016–2020) Executive management Cyril Abiteboul (managing director) Luca de Meo (Group CEO) Marcin Budkowski (Executive Director) Jérôme Stoll (President) Notable personnel Dirk de Beer Chris Dyer Pat Fry Alan Permane Ciaron Pilbeam Alain Prost Rémi Taffin Bob Bell Nick Chester Mark Slade Julien Simon-Chautemps Frédéric Vasseur Notable drivers Kevin Magnussen Jolyon Palmer Carlos Sainz Jr. Nico Hülkenberg Daniel Ricciardo Esteban Ocon Renault Sport Academy Max Fewtrell Christian Lundgaard Caio Collet Zhou Guanyu Oscar Piastri Hadrien David Formula One cars R.S.16 R.S.17 R.S.18 R.S.19 R.S.20 Related Groupe Renault Renault Sport Alpine F1 Team Team Enstone
Titles achieved with Renault engines Drivers' titles 1992 1993 1995 1996 1997 2005 2006 2010 2011 2012 2013 Constructors' titles 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 2005 2006 2010 2011 2012 2013 Related Renault Renault Sport Renault Sport F1 Renault engine customers' Grand Prix results Italics indicate factory team.

v t e Lotus F1 Team

Notable personnel James Allison Éric Boullier Matthew Carter Nick Chester Chris Cooney Dirk de Beer Mike Elliott Federico Gastaldi Nicolas Hennel Carmen Jordá Ayao Komatsu Gérard López Patrick Louis Eric Lux Jarrod Murphy Alan Permane Ciaron Pilbeam Simon Rennie Iñaki Rueda Andy Ruhan Mark Slade Martin Tolliday Jon Tomlinson Naoki Tokunaga Simon Virrill Dave Wheater Drivers Jérôme d'Ambrosio Romain Grosjean Heikki Kovalainen Pastor Maldonado Kimi Räikkönen Formula One Cars E20 E21 E22 E23 Hybrid Related Genii Capital Group Lotus Lotus F1 Junior Team Team Enstone

v t e Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team
Personnel Ian James (team principal) Nick Chester (technical director) Noted Drivers Stoffel Vandoorne Nyck de Vries Formula E Powertrains Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrow 01 Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02 Related Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz EQ HWA Racelab

v t e Cadillac in Formula One
Owners Mark Walter & Dan Towriss Team Principal Graeme Lowdon Personnel Pat Symonds Rob White Nick Chester John McQuilliam Jon Tomlinson Naoki Tokunaga Mario Andretti Related Andretti Global Cadillac General Motors

• Formula One engineers
• British automotive engineers
• Renault people
• Alumni of the University of Cambridge
• Living people
• 1969 births
• Formula E people
• People from Ripon
• Benetton Formula