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| Image Supplied: Craig Scarborough |
Better known to motorsport fans as ScarbsTech, Scarborough has spent more than two decades analyzing, illustrating, and explaining the innovations that shape modern Grand Prix racing. His detailed technical drawings and accessible explanations have helped countless fans understand the true wonder that is engineering in F1.
Craig Scarborough’s route into becoming one of the paddock's most respected technical voices was anything but straightforward. Growing up in Britain during the 1970s, he's fascination with engineering developed long before Formula 1 became his primary focus.
Influenced by the era's fascination with technology, he found himself captivated by aviation, space exploration, and how things worked.
"My father grew up in London during WW2 and had a fascination with aircraft," Scarborough recalled. "He taught me how to draw planes and make plastic model kits."
Those early interests eventually led him towards motorsport.
"It was probably modelling that hooked me on the technical side”, he says. “As I soon grew bored of aircraft models, I moved on to Tamiya F1 kits, which were far more complex and the engineering of cars was new to me."
While Technical Analysis would ultimately become his career, it was not his original destination. Scarborough initially hoped to become a pilot, directing his education towards science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects before poor eyesight forced a rethink.
"I wanted to be a pilot!” he said. “So, I directed my education in that direction, with STEM subjects. But my poor eyesight precluded me from that career. Engineering was my alternative, and I tried for a job with F1 teams in the mid-eighties, but I had no experience, so I took up a more conventional career.”
He had attempted to secure a role within Formula 1 during the 1980s, but that proved difficult because industry contacts and opportunities were few and far between in an era before the internet connected aspiring engineers and journalists directly to the sport.
"You have to remember this was pre-internet," Scarborough explained. "You couldn't just go and research and find this stuff. You had to find names, addresses and write letters."
Instead, he immersed himself in books and specialist magazines, developing an understanding of race car design whilst building a career in Information Technology [IT].
An unexpected opportunity arose when an employer secured contracts with Formula 1 teams, giving him access to a factory tour and test sessions.
"I managed to get a factory tour of the Jordan F1 Team, and attend some F1 tests at Silverstone," he said. "It was then that I realized I knew more about the tech stuff than some of the people guiding us around."
As Formula 1 communities began establishing themselves on the internet in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Scarborough spotted a niche.
"My first work was on tiny websites. I did it because no one else was doing it," he said.
The timing could not have been any more perfect. Meanwhile, established technical illustrator and analyst Giorgio Piola remained largely focused on magazines and books. Digital platforms offered a new avenue for technical coverage.
Scarborough's ability to combine technical knowledge, illustration and communication helped him build an audience. "I've always tried to report the facts and get some form of cross-check or evidence for anything I'm doing. It's never been about getting clicks,” he said.
That approach gradually earned the trust of engineers throughout the paddock.
"I can be the first to admit I'm not an expert in any of these fields and I've got stuff wrong,” he said. “I think that's earned respect. Engineers in the sport at all levels have reached out or responded to help me understand things."
One of the key milestones in establishing his credibility came in 2001 when he began contributing to Racecar Engineering magazine, his first professional motorsport publication.
"Thereafter, it's often been small recognition of my work," he said. "Making an accurate pre-season design prediction, uncovering some tech secret or even getting a Technical Directive created to ban one of my ideas."
Perhaps what has distinguished Scarborough throughout his career is not simply his technical understanding, but his ability to communicate it.
"I don't know if I can explain how I do it," he admitted. "But feedback has certainly helped. If someone doesn't understand what I've written or said, they can ask for clarification."
That interaction has become even more important as social media has transformed the way fans engage with technical content.
"When I started, few people were doing F1 tech on the internet," he said. "Today there are dozens, if not hundreds, of accounts putting out some level of technical content."
The audience, he believes, has evolved alongside the sport itself. "I learnt very early that people are definitely interested in Formula 1 technology. Not everyone, and some only want a superficial understanding, but the interest has always been there."
The technical landscape they are following today bears little resemblance to the Formula 1 he first began analyzing. "It's changed massively," Scarborough said. "Compare any part of an F1 car from 2000 and compare it to today – it's like going from the Iron Age to science fiction."
Whilst the power units, tyres and suspension play a vital role in performance, Scarborough believes aerodynamics has become the defining battleground of modern Formula 1.
"There was a tipping point in the late 1980s and 1990s when aero became the key overall factor," he explained.
He points to the revolutionary Tyrrell 019 as an example. The car's high-nose concept challenged conventional race-car design thinking by compromising areas traditionally considered untouchable, including weight distribution and the centre of gravity.
"But it proved that aerodynamic gains could outweigh those compromises. If an aero update creates quicker lap times, then the aero update goes on the car," Scarbs said.
Looking back across Formula 1's many technical eras, Scarborough remains fascinated by the regulation changes and the opportunities they create for innovation.
"The change in aero regulations for 1983 probably hooked me the most," he said. "That was the first time I sat down and predicted what a car might look like and where the loopholes and opportunities could be."
That same curiosity continues to drive him today, particularly as Formula 1 prepares for a future shaped by sustainability, evolving powertrain technologies and new regulations.
"For me, it’s about the future roadmap,” he said. “Where does F1 go with energy, powertrain and chassis design to reflect that? The world is changing, and Formula 1 can no longer just race around burning fuel wastefully. We have started down that road and haven’t found the best route yet. There’s still a lot of blue-sky thinking that needs to come from the FIA in directing F1 and other motorsports into the future.”
For aspiring engineers and journalists hoping to follow a similar path, his advice to you is pretty straightforward: "Make it your only goal and go out, get any experience you can, on top of education, of course.”
Whether through Formula Student, F1 in Schools, eSports, or simulation platforms, Scarborough believes there are opportunities for those willing to create them.
After more than 20 years spent dissecting Formula 1's engineering secrets, Scarbs motivation remains remarkably simple. "For me, it will always be about curiosity," he said. "I'll see something and think: 'How does that work? Can I draw it so I can explain it?'"
It’s the same question that first drew Scarborough towards engineering decades ago – and one that continues to help Formula 1 fans understand the sport beyond what they see on track, or through social media.
