David Sanchez is a French Formula 1 engineer who serves as Executive Technical Director of the BWT Alpine F1 Team, leading the Enstone team's performance, engineering and aerodynamics departments. He was born on 31 January 1980 in Clermont-l'Hérault, France, and graduated from ISAE-ENSMA, the French aerospace and mechanical engineering school. ¹

Early career at Renault and McLaren

Sanchez began his F1 career in 2005 as a junior aerodynamicist at the Enstone-based Renault team, joining during the back-to-back championship-winning seasons with Fernando Alonso. In 2007 he moved to McLaren, rising from senior aerodynamicist to aerodynamics team leader, and was part of the group that developed the innovative F-Duct that featured on the 2010 MP4-25 — a device that fed air to stall the rear wing on the straights. During his McLaren years the team never finished lower than fourth in the Constructors' Championship. ¹

“During his McLaren years the team never finished lower than fourth in the Constructors' Championship.”

Ferrari years

In October 2012 Sanchez joined Ferrari as a principal aerodynamicist. He was promoted to chief aerodynamicist in 2016, succeeding the departing Dirk de Beer, took charge of the whole aerodynamics department in 2019, and in 2021 became chief engineer, vehicle concept, leading the design and development of the 2022 Ferrari — the car with which Ferrari returned to race-winning form under the new ground-effect regulations. ¹

Brief McLaren return and move to Alpine

Sanchez left Ferrari and rejoined McLaren in January 2024 as technical director of car concept and performance, but the role ended quickly: he left by mutual consent on 2 April 2024 after finding the position differed from the remit he had been promised. Weeks later he was appointed Alpine's Executive Technical Director on 2 May 2024, returning to the Enstone base where his career had begun in 2005. ¹²³

Remit at Alpine

At Alpine, Sanchez oversees the technical organisation across performance, engineering and aerodynamics, with the directors of those three areas reporting to him. His brief is to lift the Enstone team back toward the front through the transition to the 2026 technical regulations and Mercedes power units — the period in which the new A526 chassis was conceived. ²³

Why he matters

Why it matters: Sanchez is the senior technical authority responsible for translating Alpine's reset into a competitive car. His Renault and Ferrari pedigree is exactly the title-winning experience the team lacked, and the early-2026 step forward with the A526 is the first evidence that his restructuring of the technical group is bearing fruit. ²³

Bottom line

Sanchez is an aerodynamics specialist with title-winning pedigree at Renault and Ferrari, brought in to reshape Alpine's technical direction. His success will be judged on whether he can convert deep design experience into a consistently competitive Alpine car. ¹³