Published By: Rohit Chatterjee

Meet Rithvik Reddy, the Bengaluru-Lad in Alfa Romeo's Paddock

Against all odds, Reddy fought for his childhood dream and is now the Race Strategy Engineer of the Alfa Romeo Formula One team. 

In India, even today, a majority of people do not take motorsports seriously. Therefore, years ago, when a little kid from Bengaluru named Rithvik Dhananjay Reddy thought of venturing into the world of Formula One, no one really took him seriously and some even made fun of his dream. Years later, Dhananjay, who is not even 30, is one of the top bosses in the Alfa Romeo paddock. He is the team’s Race Strategy Engineer, one of the most crucial designations on an F1 team. 

(Credit-@depressedsebfan Twitter Handle)

Educational background

According to a report by the Deccan Herald (DH), Dhananjay studied at the SishuGraha School of Bengaluru. He took up an internship at Red Rooster Racing in 2011 and soon became the data and design engineer of the same team. However, Dhananjay knew that to enter Formula 1, he would have to be the best. Therefore, he moved to England and pursued a Master of Engineering in Motorsport Engineering from Oxford Brookes University.

Career

According to Dhananjay’s LinkedIn profile, he worked as the Aero Systems Placement Engineer of the Scuderia Toro Rosso F1 Team for around 1.5 years before joining the AlphaTauri F1 team as their Race Strategy Engineer. He worked for the Red Bull F1 team's sister outfit for nearly four years. In 2021, the Bengaluru lad joined Alfa Romeo as their RaceStrategy Engineer.

What is Dhananjay’s job?

"On Sundays, I choose what tyres we put, I decide when we make a pit stop, how much fuel goes in the car. Also, I decide what our plan of attack is and what our plan of defence is," explained Dhananjay to Deccan Herald.

(Credit- Acer Official Facebook Handle)

He also informed DH that, in a bid to defeat other F1 teams, he often has to tap the radio stations of other teams to collect information discreetly. At times, he spends hours going through visual data to give his drivers an edge during the race or in the qualifying sessions.

Dhananjay concluded by saying, "Every decision I make affects me, and it also affects the livelihood of 600 people who work at the factory. There are also two drivers who have put their faith in this team. They have given us their careers, so it’s quite a big responsibility."

The F1 season 2023 begins on March 5, and this season, drivers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu will represent the Alfa Romeo F1 team.

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