What Job Can I Have in F1?
“All of our team members have aspirations on what they want to achieve here when they start. They may even aspire to a role that they do not have the skills to do.
“It is our role to help them develop those skillsets. We want to make sure we are developing team members to keep them interested in what they are doing.
“When I first started at the team, I was one of two people in the Vehicle Dynamics Department straight out of university. I have had a few different roles since then, and so many of them came from having the mindset of ‘that looks interesting, let me try that.’
“A lot of people looking to get into F1 might want to be a race engineer, for example. But there are only 20 cars on the grid, so only 20 race engineers. There are over 1,000 people in this team, but just two race engineers. It is important to make sure you look at other roles, too.
“It is really important to sit down and focus on what your strengths are. What do I want to do? What are my interests? What is the right area of the sport for me to get into?
“Have an idea of where you want to end up, but that is not necessarily where you start. It is about the best route for the journey.”
What Advice Can You Give Someone Looking to Work in F1?
“A lot of people have seen Drive to Survive on Netflix and think it looks cool. I grew up watching F1, but you must love the subject.
“When you get to the sport, whether as an engineer, an aerodynamicist, or a designer you have got to really enjoy that because in a week you might have two hours of motor racing but there are another 40-50 hours of the job to do.
“Doing a subject you love makes your whole career interesting, so make sure you enjoy it, that is they key. If you enjoy the challenge, it keeps you interested.”