Mark Wakem

Mark Wakem

Wakem works with Ferrari design and development teams to ensure Shell’s engine oils deliver maximum performance and optimum protection in each new development of their Formula One™ engines. At the same time, he is part of the Shell Helix road oil development team, ensuring that the lubricant technology transfer between the road and race track is used to best effect for both products.

A typical day for Wakem involves discussing engine oil developments with the engineers in Maranello, and the results of tests in the engine cells there and out at track tests around the world. In the UK, he and his team may be planning a development programme for the next generation of oil for the Ferrari Formula One™ engine, involving blending a set of oils in the laboratory, then carrying out a variety of tests in rigs to decide the formulation of candidates to go forward for engine testing in Maranello.

Wakem graduated in Engineering from the University of Cambridge and had originally planned to be an aeronautical engineer. While there, he realised that virtually no one gets to design a whole aircraft any more (let alone develop and test fly it himself!). Finding himself drawn to mechanical engineering and the internal combustion engine, the flexibility of the Engineering degree course allowed him to change career direction quite easily.

His first job at Shell was developing tests using engines as the tools for motor oil development. Over the years, he became a specialist in engine hardware, looking at future engine developments and their impact on lubricants. His first role in Formula One™ involved evaluating off-the-wall ideas for performance improvement, which seemed a natural fit with his background in engines and their development. He later took over the engine lubricant development as his main task.