Tharish Ranjit is Formula 1 Team Cadillac graduate vehicle performance engineer.
Image: Supplied
KwaZulu-Natal-born Tharish Ranjit is living his Formula 1 dream, working with team Cadillac.
The all-new Cadillac squad made their debut in Formula 1 as the grid’s 11th team in the 2026 season which began earlier this month in Australia.
Ranjit, 27, formerly from Port Shepstone on the south coast, joined Cadillac in December 2024 as a graduate vehicle performance engineer.
He said working on the F1 circuit feels surreal.
"But it also feels comfortable and like I belong. Every now and then I have to stop and pinch myself. During testing, I was helping scan the Bahrain track with a colleague from the strategy department. During our walk from T11 to T13 we reflected on the fact that we are just some guys from Africa (Michael is a fellow grad from Ghana) who are living our dreams. I’m happy to be here, but being here is not the end goal, this is just the beginning," said Ranjit.
As a factory-based engineer, Ranjit’s role contrasts with that of the race team performance engineers, who focus on optimising the current car. Instead, he aids in directing the car’s setup from various simulations and simulator tests while providing critical insights during race weekends.
"We also provide an extra set of eyes during a race weekend and continue with tests in the simulator when the real practice is complete and come up with solutions to finding more performance on the car. We also work closely with Aero, Tyres and Design on the development of the future car.
"There are so many more unknowns with a real car versus a virtual car in the simulated world where you can control everything. However, when the real car is running laps and I am looking at data, it feels very similar to the virtual car, the same processes for problem solving and performance searching apply to both. The key is to get the virtual car to align as best as possible to the real car so we can use our tools more," said Ranjit.
He first joined Cadillac he started out in the Aero CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) department when there were about 100 people in Silverstone, but when he moved to vehicle performance, the team had doubled in size.
"As we grew, the culture stayed the same. The team still has a start-up vibe where new ideas are welcomed. As a junior, this is an incredible place to work. I’ve had the freedom to provide input and take on responsibilities.
"Because we are building everything from scratch, how I decide to do something may set how the team does it for the foreseeable future and that’s really exciting," he said.
The performance of the Cadillac team this season, as observed by Ranjit, lays a solid foundation.
"Getting two cars across the line in China was great. We are happy to have started well, now we need to keep building. The atmosphere in the team is great. I think with a new team this is important. We all want to come in, do our best and grow together.
"We are one team. This is actually one of our values. I appreciated the Barcelona Shakedown car that had everyone’s name printed on the nose, as part of its livery. The car would not be there without each and every one of us. Knowing I am part of that fills me with pride, belonging and a sense of responsibility to every other name on that car to do my best for them," he said.
Having completed his BSc in Mechanical Engineering at UKZN, Ranjit feels a profound connection to Durban.
As a young child he followed his dad, who is a mechanic, around and wanted to always be around cars.
"Both my parents and a good portion of my extended family are huge F1 fans, so I was exposed to the sport from a very young age.
"I have vague memories of watching Michael Schumacher from an early age. At the age of 9, I was fortunate to attend the Malaysian GP and I have been obsessed with racing ever since," he said.
Ranjit said since then it was his goal to work with a Formula One team.
"I’d lost motivation or hope during my final years of high-school and undergrad. “How can someone from SA compete with the best from around the world was my thought.
"Before applying for my MSc, I had seen clips of people from South Africa and Zimbabwe working at F1 teams. Seeing other Africans competing at the highest level gave me some strength to back myself," he said.
He said Formula One is the pinnacle of motor racing and the technology is always at the cutting edge of what humans can do.
"As a superfan of the sport, following F1 makes it easy, keeping up with global car and technological developments," he said.
During his high school holidays, Ranjit worked as a mechanic at his dad’s shop in Port Shepstone (Ravin’s Auto Centre).
"Taking part in an Eskom Science Expo in high school broadened my horizons. I then studied mechanical engineering where I learned the fundamentals of engineering. I completed some vacation work at Dezzi’s Equipment, and I did a lot of 3D printing during my undergraduate degree. Face shield printing during Covid and then making small car parts for friends and family helped me grow as an engineer.
"I then took on a MSc in Motorsport Engineering at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David in Swansea. I was heavily involved with the university race team doing cross-car and driver data analysis.
"Years of playing the F1 game and other racing games has helped me when going racing during my MSc filling my head with information like F1 track characteristics is genuinely useful," he said.
Ranjit's dissertation focused on optimising the suspension stiffness to make the most of the car’s aerodynamics.
He completed the dissertation in collaboration with SABE Fluid Dynamics, who gave him his big break by taking him on as they were contracted to the F1 project.
Reflecting on the season thus far, Ranjit cites testing in Bahrain and the collective experience of supporting races from Silverstone Operations Room as career highlights, although he yearns for more.
He added that he just wants to have fun and do better every day.
"Good stuff will naturally come. If I had to pick a specific race or championship, of course, I would love to be winning the Formula One World Championship. Being a winning engineer in the Indy 500 is also probably top of my list."
His advice to budding young motor enthusiasts is to keep having fun.