He joined Renault’s predecessor Lotus F1 fresh out of Cranfield University of Technology and hasn’t left since. Karel Loos worked his way up from performance to racing engineer and in those roles was closely involved with Kevin Magnussen, Jolyon Palmer, Carlos Sainz and now Daniel Ricciardo.
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Loos knows better than anyone that no driver is the same, the differences between Sainz and Ricciardo, for example, are clear. “Sainz is”, Loos illustrates in conversation with FORMULA 1 Magazine, quite technical: “He was very involved in the adjustment and all mapping what we work with – the electronic side of the car is often used to adjust the balance – and tried to understand everything down to the last detail. So he was quickly on track when he joined us in America in 2017 and immediately finished seventh. Nobody expected that. ”
“For Daniel it is a bit more explaining: ‘we expect this change to do this’, but he is always confident in what we do. It is a bit less ‘technical’ with him, but you prepare yourself for that. At the beginning of 2019 it was therefore a bit more difficult with him, it took some adjustment. However, I also think it is more difficult to switch from a good car to a lesser one, like Daniel, while it was the other way around for Carlos. ”
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“We immediately noticed with Daniel that he is less technical than Carlos, but he has a very good one feel for the car. Better than Carlos had with us in the beginning, I think. ”
In the new edition of FORMULA 1 Magazine you can read the entire interview with Karel Loos. In it, he tells a lot about his prepared sentences for Ricciardo, his history as a tow truck driver and whether he will be Fernando Alonso’s engineer in 2021. Edition is in stores now or can be ordered here.
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