I just didn’t realize the scale of the story I was getting myself into, as I couldn’t possibly tell you everything that I learned about Elliot and his current work in just one story. Even if I gave you the full recording of our close-to-one-hour discussion, it would still be just a glimpse into what Ansible Motion is all about. I'll have to investigate further.
I began working on this interview with Elliot Dason-Barber back in August of 2025. I was excited at the prospect of talking to Ansible Motion’s technical director for multiple reasons.
It’s not just because I’ve spent more time immersing myself in the virtual world of racing, but also due to his real-world F1 experience. Even if I gave you the full recording of our discussion, it would still be just a glimpse into what Ansible Motion is all about.
I can tell you I was blown away from the get-go, which is not something I’ve ever experienced before. Dason-Barber has spent 15 years working in Formula One and another five or so in other forms of motorsport. He describes the early part of his journey as follows:
I built my first engine in my mom’s kitchen when I was 15. I was always interested in motorsport, so a mechanical engineering degree was a natural progression. I was very fortunate to get sponsored by Land Rover and ultimately ended up spending eight years with the company. I was interested in vehicle dynamics and was fortunate enough to get involved in the early days of vehicle simulation, back when it was all hand-coded. I worked on the development for the Discovery 2, in charge of kinematics and development, testing in Arizona for months.
And it goes on from there. Far beyond.
I always enjoy listening to personal stories, as they're a key part in understanding what people are up to today. I could see Dason-Barber’s enthusiasm for his job in his eyes and his story at the same time, with keywords like “Mini R50,” “ProDrive,” and “Jaguar F1.” “Red Bull Racing” further cementing my understanding on who I was talking to. If you’ve ever really paid attention to motorsports, you’ll know that it’s not all about the drivers. It’s a team effort, and the engineers, mechanics, and other members of the crew each play a role in either victory or defeat.
I soon realized I was talking to one of the unsung heroes of professional motorsports and F1, and yet Dason-Barber was so down to earth about all his accomplishments. I kept trying to find an anchor-point or way to better understand how the driving simulation technology like that Ansible Motion's is perfecting these days has changed F1 and motorsport in general. According to Dason-Barber:
What we’re trying to achieve is to give drivers the experience that they're in a real race car, only in a lab setting. It’s the subjective correlation that’s the most important and so all the systems that we’re using now are secondary to that. They’re critical, but ultimately, it’s that driver’s perception, the human element, that’s the most important. So, trying to speed up the response of everything to become ultimately instantaneous is what Ansible Motion's is aim has always been.
These days nearly 60 people work at Ansible Motion, and about 50% of them are automotive engineers. Elliot alone has 30 people in his team, and I learned that his chief designer was formerly a senior engineer at Red Bull Racing for eight years. Given the prospect of sim work in the future, it’s the kind of job any young automotive enthusiast can aspire to, and it does seem like the company is all for bringing in new talent to the squad.
This interview goes much deeper than what is presented here. Read and enjoy the full article on the autoevolution website.