Who are Williams Racing’s Race Engineers?

A Formula 1 Race Engineer is a critical member of the race weekend operation, acting as the main communicator between the team and the drivers.

At Williams, our Race Engineers are based on the ‘Engineers’ Island’ found in the heart of our garage - you can check it out on our App via the Virtual Garage experience.

They will pass on messages from the engineering team to the driver, and relay any feedback from the driver back to the engineering team. This is to fine-tune the car throughout the weekend, ensuring the team gives themselves the best possible foundation to perform at any given race.

Communication is key in Formula 1, and a Race Engineer isn’t just there to get the best out of the car, they’re also there to get the best out of their driver. Messages are usually saved for the straights, where the driver has more opportunity to make any required switch changes and isn’t focusing on braking zones or finding the apex.

Once a session is wrapped, the driver joins their Race Engineer to pour over the data in the hunt for continuous improvement. When not at a race weekend, the Race Engineer will support Driver-in-loop (DiL) simulations back at the factory, as well as work with the wider technical team to continue the development of the car across the season.

You know all about Williams Racing’s two drivers, but do you know their Race Engineers? First up…

James Urwin has been Alex Albon’s Race Engineer ever since the Thai racer arrived at Grove ahead of the 2022 season, and has become somewhat used to Albono’s fondness for Nigel Mansell desktop wallpapers.

James first arrived at the team in 2014 as a Performance Engineer, having previously worked as an engineer in GP2. In 2017 he became Race Engineer for Lance Stroll, before later working with George Russell, as well as one-off races with Jack Aitken and Nyck de Vries.

Gaëtan Jego joined the team in 2019 following a decade with ART Grand Prix working across a variety of motorsport series.

He is Franco Colapinto’s Race Engineer and has helped guide the young Argentine throughout his first few races in the sport, including points finishes in both Baku and Austin.

Gaëtan has previously worked with both Logan Sargeant and Nicholas Latifi, as well as supporting Franco during his rookie FP1 session at Silverstone.

If you had paid close attention during the Mexico City and Sao Paulo Grands Prix weekends, you would have noticed a different voice on Franco and Alex’s team radios.

This was Ed Regan, who first joined the team in mid-2023. With F1 nearing the end of its longest-ever season, the team has rotated between trackside staff throughout the campaign, and the same has been true for our Race Engineers. Ed joined Franco in Mexico and Alex in Brazil, and he has taken several other races over the past 18 months.