F1 22 Game Engineer Marc: Everything you need to know about him

EA Sports' F1 22's fan favorite racing engineer Adam "Jeff" Rhys Dee has been replaced with the newly voiced "Elvis" Priestley after over six years.

Though many in the community are relieved that they will not have to hear Jeff's sarcastic "Are you OK?" after hitting the barriers ever again, a few lamented the passing of this F1 game legend.

With Marc in the game, the alteration is noticeable, employing mostly the same lines but with a new perspective, a different voice, and some new expressions. It is one factor that, combined with the game's new engineer's more vivacious personality, gives the lightly revamped career modes a fresh feel.

Here is everything one needs to know about F1 22’s race engineer.

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Meet Marc, the new Race Engineer's voice in F1 22 game

Marc Priestley is the new Race engineer in F1 22. During a player's first on-track session in the My Team managerial mode or Driver Career, he will greet and serve as the in-game guide.

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Who is Marc Priestley?

Marc "Elvis" Priestley is an English motorsport and automotive presenter. He spent ten years working as a Formula 1 mechanic at McLaren before making a move to the world of media.

Marc "Elvis" Priestley works on the McLaren Mercedes MP4 21, Monaco, 25 May 2006 (Image via Sutton Images, Motorsport)

Marc began by blogging about his experiences as an F1 mechanic, worked as a pitlane reporter for BBC 5 Live, co-hosted Discovery's Wheeler Dealers with Mike Brewer, and is now the voice of the race engineer in EA Sports' F1 22.

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Marc's tenure at McLaren

Marc Priestley began his career as a mechanic for the McLaren F1 test squad in 1999 after working in Italian Formula 3000 and British Formula 3.

The Australian Grand Prix in 2002 was his first race weekend as a member of the race team, where his job was to replace the front nose cone as needed. He later rose to the position of Kimi Räikkönen's Number Two technician over time, and in 2007 was named the team's Number One Mechanic on the T-Car.

Due to rules in 2008 barring spare cars, Marc's job changed to be a liaison between the two sides of the garage after their acrimonious split during 2007. It was then when Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso drove for the Woking-based team.

He worked back at the base in 2009 to communicate with the mechanics at race events after becoming weary of frequent travels, before concentrating on his WordPress site and pursuing a career in media.

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Marc's book, "The Mechanic"

Marc Priestley's book, "The Mechanic: The Secret World of the F1 Pitlane was published in 2017 (Image via traxion.gg)

Marc Priestley's memoir, The Mechanic: The Secret World of the F1 Pitlane, was published in 2017. The 256-paged book recounts his Formula One career and offers a distinctive look at what it's like to be a traveling, championship-chasing team member.

It combines the high-stress element of striving to win silverware with boy culture shenanigans from a time when excessive tobacco money flowed freely inside the sport. Marc's descriptions of the heated Alonso-Hamilton rivalry are a must-read for every F1 fan since the 2000s.

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Media career

Priestley was pulled into the BBC 5 Live radio station at the British Grand Prix and given the assignment of interviewing F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone after a BBC producer saw his internet postings. He continues to contribute to 5Live's F1 coverage and serves as the podcast's host for Pitlane Life Lessons.

Additionally, Marc has delivered analysis for Sky Sports F1, TalkSPORT radio, ESPN Star Sports TV, and Formula E broadcasts. He was announced to take Ant Anstead's place on the Wheeler Dealers show in 2020, with Series 17 premiering in 2021.

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How did Marc become a part of F1 22?

F1 22 Senior Creative Director Lee Mather revealed in a recent podcast by Traxion.GG that he did a live stream with Marc Priestley last year during the launch period for the launch of F1 2021. It was then that things started cooking. Lee explained:

“Rather than having to go through the long-winded process of finding people, interviewing and getting showreels, we called Marc up he was like, ‘yeah, [I’m] very interested’."

As per the schedule, Marc popped over to the Southampton studio and did a test read for the Race Engineer voice lines. The recruiting officials did not have to look any further, as Marc turned out to be a perfect fit for the role.

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What happened to Jeff?

According to media reports, Jeff, voiced by Adam Rhys Dee, went for an unspecified break from the gaming industry.

For those unfamiliar with Jeff, the Englishman was a racing engineer for earlier incarnations of the F1 game. He first served as a racing engineer in F1 2015 and last appeared in F1 2021. Rob, the race engineer in F1 2010, was likewise voiced by the same actor.

Jeff has evolved into one of the most famous memes in sports game history, despite the fact that he is intended to be there as a comforting and informative voice when a player goes wheel to wheel out on the track.

Jeff has developed into a lovable yet annoying character as a result of a combination of memorable voice lines and some interactions making little to no sense.

It is also speculated that Jeff stepped aside from F1 22 to set up his own wood-fired pizza kitchen back in his home town.

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Who are the other voice actors in F1 22?

Several new voices will deliver pre- and post-session analysis for F1 22 alongside Marc Priestley. Players will now have the option to choose between Sky's David Croft and Channel 4's Alex Jacques.

Along with Anthony Davidson, who is already on the roster, Natalie Pinkham will also be included. Jacques Villeneuve and Jean-Eric Vergne will serve as commentators when played in French. Sascha Roos will be delivering the German commentary in F1 22.