ESTACA, a springboard for working in motorsports

14 November 2025 Bucket

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ESTACA is one of the most highly-represented engineering schools in the F1 world. A recent article in La Tribune underlines its excellence, citing two French team managers, Fred Vasseur and Laurent Mekies, both graduates of the school.

ESTACA stands out for its ability to train engineers who make their mark in paddocks around the world, including at the highest level of Formula 1 racing. In an article entitled "Comment les ingénieurs français s'imposent dans le paddock", La Tribune highlights the two directors of the biggest Formula 1 teams who are ESTACA graduates.

Frédéric Vasseur (class of 1995), now head of Scuderia Ferrari, and Laurent Mekies (class of 2000), director of Red Bull Racing, are the epitome of this success. Their exemplary careers demonstrate how well ESTACA's automotive training matches the demands of the motorsport world.

French approach makes the difference, says La Tribune

The article in La Tribune highlights a peculiarity of French training, quoting Matthieu Dubois, head of race strategy at Red Bull: " I wouldn't say that the training is better [in France], but it's different and therefore complementary... Schematically, to test the solidity of a part, an Englishman will put loads on it until it breaks. A Frenchman will do the calculations. "This approach, based on in-depth, rigorous engineering, is a major asset that ESTACA passes on to its future engineers.

ESTACA, a springboard to Motorsport: professional integration figures for the latest graduating class

Motorsport may represent a niche in automotive engineering, but ESTACA ensures that its students are well integrated into the professional world. An internal study confirms this strong trend:

18.6% of 2024 Automotive Engineering graduates (i.e. 26 out of 140 students) found direct employment in motorsport. They mainly work in Single Seater (46%: F1, Formula E, F2...) and Prototype (35% : WEC/IMSA...), occupying a variety of positions, half of them asdata/performance/race engineers (50%) but also in on-board-systemssystems, tire engineering, simulation, composite materials, R&D and aerodynamics.
The Mastère Spécialisé® Motorsport Engineering Performance is even more specialized, with 70% of its graduates joining the Motorsport sector. Here too, data/performance/racing engineers (73%) are in high demand, working in categories such as Prototype (27%), Single Seater (18%), GT (18%), etc.

These statistics illustrate ESTACA's unique ability to train engineers who are directly operational and highly qualified for the demanding world of motorsport.