# Category 09 — Motorsport · High-Performance Powertrain · Auto / EV Drives > FPGA motorsport ECUs · KERS/MGU control · 800 V SiC traction inverters · CAN/FlexRay/AutomotiveEthernet · ASIL-D · Real-time embedded C/C++ · MATLAB/Simulink · multiphase DCDC for traction & aux rails · battery management · axial-flux machines ## Summary The UK is the world capital of motorsport engineering — "Motorsport Valley" runs roughly **Brackley → Silverstone → Northampton → Milton Keynes → Brixworth → Bicester → Woking → Grove**, and is unusually open to staff-level multidisciplinary engineers with HW + FPGA + DSP + power-electronics backgrounds. The crossover with **EV / HPP** (high-performance powertrain) work is now total: every F1 PU team, every hypercar OEM, and every motorsport-spinout consultancy is hiring traction-inverter, BMS, motor-control, and ECU engineers, increasingly with on-FPGA real-time control loops at 100 kHz+. For a Leeds-based engineer, the realistic in-region options are **Bentley (Crewe, ~80 mi)** and **JLR (Manchester SDV / Gaydon, ~1 h)**. Everything below Birmingham is a relocation or a hybrid 2-3 days/week pattern. Several roles are remote-friendly for senior IC work (signal-processing, FPGA RTL, controls modelling). Live April-2026 listings: **~150–250 UK postings** matching motorsport-ECU / traction-inverter / motor-control / BMS keywords across LinkedIn, Indeed, and motorsportjobs.com. McLaren Applied alone has had **FPGA Designer + Principal Embedded SW** posted continuously through Q1 2026. ## Top UK Employers | # | Employer | UK site(s) | What they build | |---|---|---|---| | 1 | **McLaren Applied** | Woking | Motorsport ECUs (TAG 320 family), telemetry, KERS / MGU control, Formula E inverter IP, EV traction inverters. **Live April 2026: FPGA Designer (Vivado/SystemVerilog) + Principal Embedded SW Engineer for motorsport ECUs** — direct 1:1 fit for HW + FPGA + embedded profile. | | 2 | **Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP)** | **Brixworth** (Northants) | F1 power units (Mercedes / McLaren / Williams customers); EV programmes (Project One). Senior controls, embedded, HW. ~900 staff. | | 3 | **Red Bull Powertrains** | Milton Keynes (Bedford technical campus 2025) | Building 2026-spec F1 power unit in-house (Ford partnership); ramping rapidly — embedded, FPGA, power-electronics, motor-control. ~700+ staff and growing. | | 4 | **Aston Martin Aramco F1 / Performance Technologies** | Silverstone (AMR Tech Campus opened 2023) | F1 chassis + electronics, increasing in-house electronics; new wind tunnel and design centre. | | 5 | **Williams F1 + Williams Advanced Engineering (now WAE Technologies, Fortescue)** | Grove (Oxfordshire) | F1 chassis; WAE — battery systems for Formula E, hypercars (Singer, Lotus Evija), military/defence high-power packs. Strong BMS/inverter teams. | | 6 | **Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1** | Brackley (Northants) | F1 chassis; controls, electronics, simulation. | | 7 | **Cosworth** | Northampton (HQ), Cambridge (electronics) | Engines (motorsport, marine, defence); **Cosworth Electronics Cambridge** does motorsport ECUs, telemetry, displays, dataloggers — direct embedded/FPGA fit. | | 8 | **Ricardo plc** | Shoreham-by-Sea (HQ), Cambridge, Leamington | Powertrain engineering services, hybrid/EV, motor-control, defence; Cambridge office focuses on electronics + control. | | 9 | **YASA (Mercedes-Benz)** | Yarnton (Oxfordshire) | Axial-flux electric motors for hypercars (Ferrari SF90, Lamborghini Revuelto), aerospace eVTOL, motorsport. Acquired by Mercedes 2021. ~250 staff. Senior power-electronics, motor-control, FPGA, FEA. | | 10 | **Bentley Motors** | **Crewe** | Production EV programme ("Beyond100" — first BEV 2026), in-house powertrain, ADAS, Linux IVI; nearest motorsport-adjacent OEM to Leeds (~80 mi / ~1 h 30 min M62→M6). | | 11 | **Lotus Cars / Lotus Engineering** | Hethel (Norfolk) | Evija EV hypercar; chassis engineering services for global OEMs. | | 12 | **Mahle Powertrain** | Northampton | Engineering services — engines, hybrid, EV motor-control, BMS, fuel-cell powertrain. | | 13 | **Drive System Design (DSD)** | Leamington Spa | Motor + transmission engineering services; e-axles, EV/HEV simulation. ~120 staff. | | 14 | **Gordon Murray Group** | Dunsfold + Highams Park | Hypercars (T.50, T.33), in-house powertrain electronics. | | 15 | **Prodrive** | Banbury (HQ), Milton Keynes | Motorsport (WRC, Le Mans), advanced manufacturing, defence — controls + electronics. | | 16 | **Zenobē / Equipmake / Saietta / Helix** | Various | EV motor / inverter / BMS specialists (London / Suffolk / Sunderland) — small teams, fast hiring. | | 17 | **Dyson** | Malmesbury (BLDC drive electronics legacy from EV cancellation) | Heavy multiphase + motor-control work, even after the car-programme cancellation. | | 18 | **JLR (Jaguar Land Rover)** | Gaydon, Whitley, **Manchester SDV hub** | EV powertrain (BEV3 platform), SDV Linux platform, ADAS — Manchester SDV is the closest to Leeds (~1 h). | ## Regional Concentration | Region | Score (1–10) | Key employers | |---|---|---| | **Motorsport Valley (Northants/Bucks/Oxon)** | **10** | Mercedes HPP Brixworth, Red Bull Milton Keynes, Aston Martin Silverstone, Cosworth Northampton, Williams/WAE Grove, Mercedes Brackley, YASA Yarnton, Prodrive Banbury | | Surrey / Sussex (M3/M23) | 8 | McLaren Applied Woking, Ricardo Shoreham, Gordon Murray Dunsfold | | West Midlands | 7 | JLR Gaydon, Drive System Design Leamington, Mahle Northampton | | **NW England / Cheshire** | **6** | **Bentley Crewe**, JLR Manchester SDV — closest to Leeds | | East Anglia | 6 | Cosworth Electronics Cambridge, Lotus Hethel, Ricardo Cambridge | | Yorkshire | 3 | Indirect only — **JLR Manchester SDV** is the realistic option; Drax/Selby and ITM Power Sheffield are *power-electronics-adjacent* but not motorsport | ## Yorkshire focus — the harder honest answer **There is essentially no motorsport HPP cluster in Yorkshire.** The realistic options for an in-region motorsport role are: 1. **JLR Manchester SDV hub (~1 h M62)** — closest match for SDV / EV / ADAS embedded Linux, but more "automotive software" than classical motorsport HPP. 2. **Bentley Crewe (~1 h 30 min)** — production-OEM EV programme, multidisciplinary HW + power-electronics + Linux IVI work. 3. **Remote-friendly seniors at McLaren Applied / Cosworth Electronics / WAE / DSD** — all four periodically post hybrid 2 days/week roles; the FPGA / RTL / controls work is well suited to remote IC patterns. 4. **ITM Power Sheffield** (kV-scale multiphase DCDC for hydrogen electrolysers — *adjacent* to motorsport HPP power electronics but a different application). If you are willing to relocate or run a 3-day-per-week southern pattern, **McLaren Applied (Woking)** is the closest 1:1 fit on the entire UK map for an HW + FPGA + embedded + multiphase-power profile, with Mercedes HPP Brixworth and Cosworth Electronics Cambridge close behind. ## Live April 2026 postings — examples - **McLaren Applied (Woking)** — *FPGA Designer* (Vivado, SystemVerilog), *Principal Embedded Software Engineer — Motorsport*, *Senior Hardware Engineer — Inverter*. Three live across LinkedIn + careers.mclarenapplied.com. - **Mercedes HPP (Brixworth)** — *Senior Controls Engineer — Hybrid Systems*, *Principal Electronics Hardware Engineer*, *Embedded SW Engineer — PU Control*. - **Red Bull Powertrains (Milton Keynes)** — multiple Power Electronics, Motor Control, FPGA, Embedded SW roles open continuously through Q1 2026. - **WAE / Fortescue (Grove)** — *Battery Cell Engineer*, *Senior Inverter Engineer*, *Embedded Software Engineer — BMS*. - **YASA (Yarnton)** — *Power Electronics Engineer*, *Motor Control Engineer (FPGA)*, *Embedded Software Engineer*. - **Cosworth Electronics (Cambridge)** — *Embedded Software Engineer — Motorsport*, *Hardware Engineer*. - **Bentley (Crewe)** — *Senior Embedded Software Engineer — EV Powertrain*, *ADAS Validation Engineer*. ## Notes & caveats - **Hours and intensity** — F1 teams (Mercedes HPP, Red Bull, Aston Martin, Williams) are intense around the season calendar; weekend/anti-social hours are the norm during race weeks. McLaren Applied, WAE, Cosworth Electronics, Ricardo, YASA, and Drive System Design are largely conventional engineering hours. - **Cost-cap-driven hiring (F1)** — recruitment cycles follow the FIA cost cap; hiring waves come every 12–18 months. - **Most exciting 2025–28 trend** — 2026 F1 power-unit regulation change (50% electrical, sustainable fuels) has triggered a multi-year hiring boom across HPP / Red Bull / Aston / Williams; this is the strongest motorsport hiring market in a decade. - **Hypercars (Murray T.33, Aston Valhalla, Lotus Evija, McLaren W1)** are pulling motorsport-grade electronics into road-car volumes for the first time; the entire ecosystem (YASA, Cosworth, McLaren Applied, Ricardo) is benefitting. - **Defence crossover** — WAE, Ricardo, Prodrive all have growing defence EV / hybrid programmes (battlefield power packs, hybrid armoured vehicles); SC clearance becomes useful. - **Why this category exists separately** — motorsport HPP roles overlap categories 02 (silicon adjacent), 03 (FPGA), 04 (PI/SI/power), 06 (embedded Linux), but the recruiting market is its own ecosystem with its own job boards (motorsportjobs.com) and its own cultural norms. ## Sources - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -