18-year-old Arvid Lindblad‘s roaring Formula 1 debut earlier this year alongside the Racing Bulls team once again helped leave an Indian-origin mark in the iconic sport, given his mother’s Indian heritage. Thanks to Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix, yet another Indian presence earned resounding viral fame on social media. Although not behind the driving wheel, Arun Rajkumar emerged as the genius muscle behind the scenes.

The Indian-origin engineer earned massive applause at the live event just as much as the internet showered him with praise after he was seen lifting a trophy on the F1 podium, proving dreams do come to life. Working for Mercedes had its perks over the weekend, as Arun got to share the stage with some of the biggest F1 names while celebrating the team’s victory in Austria.

Not only did heartwarming camera moments capture him picking up the Constructors’ trophy for Mercedes, but the trackside maverick was also spotted standing right next to his team’s speed-genius behind the wheel, George Russell, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who placed second, and Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who came in third.

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Meet India-origin F1 engineer Arun Rajkumar?

Arun Rajkumar has been attached to the Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP) team for over seven years. February 2023 onwards, the Indian-origin professional has been serving as the team’s Trackside Powerunit Engineer.

Prior to his notable promotion, Rajkumar held multiple roles during his Mercedes career. Originally joining the team as a placement student in 2016, he went on to secure a full-time job with the title-winning pioneers, starting as a graduate mechanical engineer to levelling up as a confirmation engineer and then a durability engineer.

Rajkumar landed the dream job between his third and fourth years as a mechanical engineering student at the University of Birmingham, a leading global university in the United Kingdom.

Thanks to his contributions as a technical director for UBRacing, the Indian-origin engineer knew his way around the racing tracks long before joining the world’s best on the F1 podium. Established in 1997, the team in question is one of the oldest Formula Student teams in the UK, housed by Rajkumar’s own alma mater.

Nearly a decade ago, the placement student-turned-F1 engineer shared his experience on landing a spot at Mercedes AMG HPP, admitting that he was given “real work” from day one.

Right from his early days, Rajkumar earned the opportunity to work in both Product Engineering and Test Engineering for the team.

“I have gained a lot of experience in the Internal Combustion Engine team, from working on top end components like the fuel system and the cylinder head, to the oil system and crankshaft bearings in the bottom end, giving me a well-rounded overview of the technologies used around the power unit. I also learned about structural analysis of components and how to spot certain events which could cause failures by looking at telemetry as part of any failure investigations I worked on,” he told the Institution of Mechanical Engineers at the time.

He added, “The responsibility that you are given really accelerates your learning, and I feel much more confident in my engineering ability as a result. As a huge F1 fan, there is little more rewarding than watching a race, knowing that your work has helped a Mercedes driver or partner team achieve a top spot on the podium.”

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Other Indian-origin figures in F1

While the Indian government has been actively pushing to bring Formula 1 back to Buddh International Circuit (BIC), several icons with Indian roots have already done their part in putting the South Asian nation on the F1 map.

Although 18-year-old Arvid Lindblad made history as the youngest British-Indian driver to land a seat in Formula 1 this year, it was Narain Karthikeyan who made India’s F1 dream come true in the early 2000s. The former racing driver roared to the circuits of the world from the humble streets of Coimbatore to become the first Indian to ever drive a Formula One car.

Years after Narain paved a less-travelled path for athletes in India, Karun Chandhok carried the baton ahead as India’s second driver, making his debut in 2010.

During the 2011 season, the two came together to register a rare first in F1 history, as India finally got two F1 drivers together at a grand prix weekend for the first time, according to Reuters. While Chandhok scored a chance in the car as a Team Lotus reserve, HRT’s regular racer was also out on track as they famously competed against each other.

Other Indian-origin figures to have made it to the F1 include British engineer Ravin Jain, who serves as head of strategy for Scuderia Ferrari, engineer Randeep ‘Randy’ Singh, who serves as the racing director for the McLaren Racing F1 team, and Bengaluru-origin Rithvik Dhananjay Reddy, aka the head of race strategy for the Stake F1 team (formerly Alfa Romeo).