Julien Simon-Chautemps

Julien Simon-Chautemps is a French motorsport engineer and high-performance speaker who specialises in decision-making, communication and leadership under pressure. With over 25 years in elite racing, including 14 seasons in Formula 1 across 265 Grands Prix with teams such as Toyota, Lotus, Renault and Alfa Romeo Racing, he is best known as Senior Race Engineer to World Champion Kimi Räikkönen. An aerospace engineering graduate, Julien now leads JSC7 Engineering and advises on Dynisma's DMG-S motion simulation project. He equips teams with practical frameworks to make faster decisions with incomplete data, communicate with clarity and perform consistently when the stakes are highest.

During Kimi Räikkönen's final lap at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the voice guiding him from the pit wall belonged to Julien Simon-Chautemps, concluding a partnership that defined the closing chapter of a World Champion's career. Across 14 seasons in Formula 1, Julien contributed to 265 Grands Prix with Toyota, Lotus, Renault and Alfa Romeo Racing, working at the heart of race operations where strategy, driver communication and real-time problem-solving converged under relentless pressure. As Senior Race Engineer to Räikkönen, he operated in an environment where every decision carried immediate consequences, requiring total trust, precise communication and the ability to balance data with judgement when the margin for error was measured in milliseconds. His 25-year career across elite motorsport placed him inside some of the sport's most demanding environments, from start-up teams operating with limited resources to established organisations competing at the highest level.

Before reaching Formula 1 in 2007, Julien served as Technical Director at Prema Powerteam and Trident Racing, developing young talent across Formula 2, Formula 3 and other junior categories. An aerospace engineering graduate from the Institut Polytechnique des Sciences Avancées in Paris, he has worked with drivers including Jarno Trulli, Vitaly Petrov, Pastor Maldonado, Romain Grosjean, Jolyon Palmer and Marcus Ericsson, accumulating victories across multiple championships. Alongside technical expertise, Julien developed a deep understanding of team dynamics, psychological safety and how high-performing cultures are built and sustained when performance is public and scrutiny is constant. He is also a respected Formula 1 analyst for F1 TV and Canal Plus, where he translates complex technical decisions into clear, human insight. Following Räikkönen's retirement, Julien founded JSC7 Engineering, which has grown into a multi-skilled motorsport consultancy delivering diversified services across performance engineering, race strategy, data analysis, technical podcasts, investor research for high-end mobility brands and head-hunting for specialist motorsport talent. He also advises on Dynisma's DMG-S motion simulation project, a compact system born from technology trusted by Formula 1 teams, now making advanced simulation accessible beyond the sport's elite tier.

Julien's work bridges elite motorsport and business leadership, exploring how Formula 1 teams manage risk without paralysis, make fast decisions with imperfect information, and maintain focus during prolonged pressure. He helps organisations address the challenges that arise when the pressure is relentless, the data is incomplete, and there is no room for hesitation. Fluent in English, French and Italian, Julien equips audiences with practical frameworks they can apply immediately, helping teams communicate more clearly, make better decisions and perform consistently when it matters most. His insights enable leaders to stay clear-headed when everything is happening at speed, creating lasting impact through approaches developed at the sharp end of one of the world's most demanding competitive environments.