Dieter Rencken grew up in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, watching F1 national races at the nearby Roy Hesketh Circuit. After a 20-year motor industry career he decided, at age 45, to dedicate himself to Formula 1 and moved to Europe. He has subsequently contributed to Autosport, F1 Racing, RaceFans, Racecar Engineering (UK), Sport Auto (France), Motorsport-Total (Germany), RacingNews365 (Holland) and F1 News (Russia). Dieter has received FIA F1 permanent accreditation since 2000 and has attended over 350 grands prix. He is well known in the paddock for his forensic unravelling of F1’s complex financial arrangements, typified by his annual report: What the Teams Spend. He lives in Belgium halfway between Spa-Francorchamps and the Nürburgring.