Kim Hyo-won, 30, an aerodynamicist with the Lotus Renault GP team, said he was extremely happy to be back in the Korean Grand Prix.

The former engineering graduate from Cambridge University first joined the F1 racing team in March 2010, and participated in the country’s inaugural race in October last year.

“I left this country when I was 14 so everything was quite new to me when I first came here,” Kim told The Korea Herald at the Korean International Circuit on Friday.

“It was hugely exciting but also daunting, because I suddenly had this huge amount of responsibility to look after the entire team,” he said with a big smile on his face.

“But I’m happy to be back here again,” he added.

Kim now works for the F1 team as a Computational Fluid Dynamics aerodynamicist. His role is to test the aerodynamic development of the car, and to investigate new concepts for the design.

“What I do essentially is to evaluate aerodynamic designs using computer simulations, to see how new component performs,” he said.

He explained that aerodynamic designs use the force generated by the air, so the car is pushed down onto the ground while it is cornering, giving the tires maximum grip.

“People often say the aero is the king. If you want to go fast you need to have good grip in the car, and we can provide the grip either mechanically or aerodynamically.

He admitted that his job can be very stressful.

“Every two weeks there is a race, and there is always constant push, because if you stay still, your competitors will overtake you. So we need to develop constantly through out the season.”

Now back in here for the second time to take part in Korean Grand Prix, the aero specialist noted that he was happy to see the growing interest in motor sports in this country.

“I can see the level of interest in motor sport in Korea is growing, and I hope that it will continue to grow and sometime in the future we’ll see Korean drivers and a Korean F1 team,” he added. 

By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldcorp.com)