Paddock Pass: Paul Fickers

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Paddock Pass: Paul Fickers

On the pit wall with NIO's Performance Programme Engineering Director

Paddock Pass: Paul Fickers

Welcome to Paddock Pass – the series in which we delve deep behind the scenes of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship to bring you the latest interviews and insight from the world of all-electric city street racing.

We catch up with Paul Fickers, Performance Programme Engineering Director at NIO Formula E Team about how Ayrton Senna inspired him to get into motorsport, taking race technology to the road and his top three tips for starting a career in motorsport. 

How did you get into motorsport?
I got into motorsport actually quite early at the age of 18 or 19. As soon as I got my driving licence I started working on my car and I wanted to do races, so I grew up in the Netherlands and started doing some rallycross. Mostly from an engineering point of view, I was studying engineering and the mechanical side was very interesting so my long-term goal was to become a race engineer of Ayrton Senna! Unfortunately, I was a little bit late for Ayrton Senna but I became an engineer, an automotive engineer and started to work for Ford Motor Company and from Ford Motor Company I went to in the Ford team as a resident vehicle dynamics engineer so that’s basically how I got into motorsport. 

You mentioned Ayrton Senna, was he a role model for you?
Yes he was, he was a very talented driver. In my opinion, the best of them all and it inspired me as a young man to do whatever it takes to achieve your goal.

What was it about Senna in particular?
He had a precision of driving, the art of driving and the understanding of a car being an instrument. I wanted to understand that instrument from a technical side and from a car perspective, about how can I make the best instrument for drivers.

What was your earliest motorsport memory?
My earliest memories were always the races in Zolder in Belgium, that was very close to my hometown where I lived and I remember I went there with my uncle, either to Zolder or to Spa Francorchamps to see the races, that was an event as a little boy, fantastic event so that was my future. 

What was it that inspired you so much?
Basically the speed and the sound. For me it was always the technical side, why is one car better than the other car. I didn’t really understand that and I wanted to understand what the differences were, how you could make it better or not.

Back when you were peering over the pit wall, did you always dream of getting into racing?
Yes, that was my dream to do and I come from a very little town where nobody would ever understand that, so talking to my old mates they say, “you got where you wanted, we remember you were always going to racing and nobody ever really understood why but now we understand!”

Did you find the process of getting into motorsport challenging?
It was challenging in a different way because I first started in an OEM and I became an expert in my area of vehicle dynamics. Then the OEM provided me with the opportunity to work with the team, so I didn’t really follow the classic career of a race engineer going to the field but I got in laterally. 

Has much changed in the industry since you’ve been workingin it?
Oh yes, it has changed massively. There have been massive improvements in safety, there has been a better understanding of the engineering principles so it’s a completely different level now. Especially also here in Formula E - we started with a new technology but we are already at a very high standard and we are going forward step by step. It's not like you are starting in the fifties in Formula One with some very ancient technology, you gradually develop it, you are already starting at a high level and you go to the maximum level.

When you first started out in motorsport, did you think that something like Formula E could exist?
No, in fact I was talking to Gerry Hughes (NIO's Team Principal) who is an old friend of mine. 20 years ago, as a young engineer, we started testing in Calafat - the track where we do quite a lot of testing with Formula E - with a Ford Focus prototype. Actually, we crashed the first prototype car in Calafat so when we were going back there two years ago I said to Gerry, 'I would never have thought I’d be standing here 20 years later doing an electric racing car!'

Did you ever imagine you would be in this role?
I always hoped for it! A few years ago I thought I have seen everything in automotive engineering, so I wasn't actually looking for anything new. But then the opportunity came - Martin Leach [former President of NextEV) asked me if I'd like to become the engineering director of our Formula E team and I said, 'yes, why not!' it was a chance not to be missed. 

How have you found the journey into Formula E?
It has been a wonderful journey with the team. A very hard journey building everything from scratch and it has been very hard work but incredibly interesting to see how the series progresses. It is something new and developing so we can see the rewards. More and more people are wanting to be involved.

What’s the best part of your job?
The best part of my job is that I can influence the product. It has always been a particular drive for me that I can define how the actual final product will be, so I have always taken a keen interest in the technology. I always wanted to be in control of that project and to say, 'OK we need to do it this way.' That’s the best part of my job - I can now define the product and see whether my ideas were right or wrong.

What’s not so good about your job?
With everything, if you are an engineering director there are lots of things you have to do which are not technically related so you do them because you have to do them. But I consider myself very lucky that my job is also my passion. So it all smooths out in the end - there are some difficult things but I cannot really complain!

Formula E there’s a lot of travel involved, what do you miss the most when you’re away at races?
I miss being with the family and having time. Formula E or racing is more like a way of life - it's not work - so you have to adapt to it and I bring my friends along sometimes and whenever I can, I bring my girlfriend to a race, so that helps. The whole paddock is a little bit like a family also. 

Does your role differ much on race weekends and off race weekends?
Yes on race weekends I am more of an observer, I am not a direct operational person. We’ve got the people in the team who are responsible for that, but obviously, I take away all the good and bad from any race event into the development of a new car, so that’s my basic role to improve the product from season to season and to improve the car in the season.

How much learning that you do on track here goes into NIO's road cars?
Everything at the track in some way goes into the new car. There is always something that I learn at every event, so you can see that some people do different things with different setups. You try to understand why they are doing that and then you simulate and you make sure that if you gain progress, you put it into reality and see if you were right or wrong. 

You’ve had quite an interesting career, what has been the high point to date?
I’ve had a few career high points. First of all, when I came back from Formula One, in Ford Motor Company, the first highlight was that I was allowed to do the Focus RS Mk I chassis dynamics - that was my baby. Then the best part of my automotive career was when I was chief engineer of Maserati and I did the Maserati Gran Turismo, that was my baby for the road car, we did that with very limited resources and people. Basically, that car saved Maserati from going bankrupt so I take that as a key achievement. In Formula E, it's the achievement of becoming a technical director.

If you could see Formula E race anywhere in the world that we don’t currently race, where would it be?
I would say Cape Town because it’s a wonderful place, it's very diverse, with fantastic surroundings and scenery. For me, Cape Town could be a good contender. 

What would be your top three tips for someone looking to get into a career in motorsport?
First of all, it has to be your passion.

It must be everything you want to do and you must do whatever it takes to get there.

Make sure you’ve got a proper education so you can compete and be realistic, sometimes you have to decide to make a step forward, so it’s a long-term objective and if you’re sure you want to do it you will get there.

Previously on Paddock Pass;

Francesca Valdani, Techeetah Formula E

Delphine Biscay, Venturi Formula E

Leon Price, DS Virgin Racing