It was motorsport that won over, however, and in 2001 Michelin recruited Pierre to study the interaction between track surfaces and the rubber of its Formula One tyres. His interest was strictly at the molecular level but eventually he moved away from the microscope and took on more responsibility, becoming a project leader at Michelin, responsible for adherence and simulation for F1.
When the French tyre supplier pulled out of F1, Pierre moved to BMW-Sauber as a vehicle performance engineer, again working predominantly with tyres and suspension. He became head of the Swiss team’s vehicle performance group, and then, in 2012, joined Sauber’s technical committee, with responsibility for race engineering and vehicle performance.
The Saubers of this era, with a highly-rated young driver named Sergio Pérez at the wheel, were famously competitive, thanks in large part to being gentle on tyres, which allowed the team run highly effective alternative strategies.
After a successful 2012, Pierre joined Red Bull Racing at the beginning of 2013. He came on board as our Chief Engineer – Performance Engineering, as well as being responsible for the vehicle dynamics department, but by 2018 he had risen to the role of Technical Director.
In that role Pierre has helped to take the Team back to championship-winning ways and has guided the design of some of the team’s finest machines, including the RB16B, with which Max Verstappen won his first Drivers’ title in 2021, and 2022’s RB18. Designed to a wholly new set of F1 regulations, the RB18 became the Team’s most successful car, winning 17 races, finishing on the podium 28 times and carrying Max to a second title and the Team to its fifth Constructors’ Champion win.
“Why do I enjoy F1?,” he asks. “Because it’s the only place in the world where you have a real engineering competition – and for an engineer, this is wonderful. The only limitation is... yourself.– and for me, this is what makes me want to come to work every morning. You don’t have to be a driver, or on the pit wall, or working on a pitstop, even back at the factory you are a competitor – and when you have a victory it’s... fantastic.”
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