David Sanchez is a French Formula One engineer, he is currently employed by McLaren F1 Team as their Technical Director of Car Concept and Performance.^[1]

Career

After graduating from the École nationale supérieure de mécanique et d'aérotechnique Sanchez started his motorsport career working as an aerodynamicist for the Renault F1 team as a junior aerodynamicist in 2005.^[2] He moved to McLaren Racing in 2007 initially as a senior aerodynamicist before progressing onto becoming an aerodynamics team leader being a part of the team that developed the innovative F-Duct seen in the McLaren MP4-25.^[3] Seeking a new challenge Sanchez decided to join Ferrari in October 2012 as a Principle Aerodynamicist, later replacing the departing Dirk de Beer as chief aerodynamicist in 2016 before heading up the entire department in 2019.^[4] In 2021 Sanchez was promoted again to Chief Engineer, Vehicle Concept leading the design and development of the 2022 Ferrari car.^[5]

Sanchez left Ferrari in March 2023 and entered a period of gardening leave. Sanchez is slated to return to McLaren as technical director of car concept and performance, effective 2024, replacing James Key.^[6]