Work Experience - Hoping to work in F1

[DibbleDooDah]

My DD is taking maths, further maths, physics and computer studies at A-level and has dreams of working for a F1 race team. Obviously looking at studying mechanical engineering at university.

She is a total F1 geek. They do Formula 1 In Schools and are hoping to set up a Formula 24 team at her school next year.

She has been looking at work experience or courses - something to do in the holidays - to take her interest further. I thought there might be some special things aimed purely at women getting into the sport but everything she finds online is about female drivers and not engineers.

Most work experience is for people already studying for a degree or placement years.

Anybody know of anything that might fit the bill?

You are taking bits of what I said and twisting them. Good luck to your DD though.

No one is being negative, it's just question of odds. There's only 10 F1 teams and only 8 (? too lazy to count) in the UK. They're massive employers, but thousands of teens would like work experience in an F1 team so no matter how wonderful your DD is (and she does sound it), the odds are against her.

Looking at F2, F3, touring car etc teams will give her more options and still give her great insight into engineering in a professional racing team if she's lucky enough to find a spot.

With work experience, it's often a case of who you know, which for most of us is no one! So the net needs to be cast wide.

My son wrote to local companies and managed to get a work experience. He wants to do Aerospace Engineering but just looked at all local engineering firms. He got a placement in the service department of a local company mending equipment. He didn't expect to get paid but they liked his work so they did pay him. He also did an Investin engineering course in London but it was extremely expensive.

Yes, those Investin courses look really good @GMH1974 but we realistically can’t afford them.

What she is already doing sounds great. But she should also make sure she’s got a rounded extra-curricular. At the end of the day anyone who works in F1 is pretty obsessed with it but they’re all people you need to work with Day in day out; other interests and aspects to her personality will give something else to talk about.

When she is looking at universities she should look at unis which compete in formula student, and which also allow a year out either as part of the degree or as a self-organised “year’s pause” to undertake an internship at a team. Practical degrees with lots of hands on lab time rather than the more theoretical are helpful.

This is based on the experience of a close relative who graduated from a mechanical engineering degree into a job in f1 in the last few years.

@DibbleDooDah I'm honestly not sure whether the Investin courses help or not because if you put one on your UCAS application it does tend to advertise "I can afford to do an expensive course". I think some universities have been wanting much higher than the advertised grades if they think the student is privileged. My son applied to a couple of places - Bath and Bristol - with his predictions at their standard offer and was rejected. I think his work experience in the local firm was more useful anyway and he got that off his own bat.

@MikeWozniaksMohawk Thank you. She plays at county level in a sport and is a DT scholar at her school so confident in her extra curriculars. Her sport is actually something that’s really important to her when looking for a university too.

She is also looking for a degree with a placement year.

It’s the more hands on and practical relevant work experience that she is struggling with at this age (16).

Have you come across https://stemettes.org/. They run some 1 day events. There's one this Saturday, but only virtual places left:
https://stemettes.org/events/meet-the-stemettes-mercedes-amg-petronas-f1/
They're also running an in-person 3 day course later in July which includes a day at Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One headquarters and some training:
https://stemettes.org/events/ask-visit-learn-mercedes-amg-petronas-formula-one/
Their events/courses are free.

Also Springpod do virtual work experience in various engineering fields - can't see Formula 1 but may be worth getting on their mailing list?
https://www.springpod.com/virtual-work-experience/search?status=Open&jobSector=Engineering

This article is a little old, but you could try reaching out to women working in this fields who have show support for encouraging women into engineering. They may know of internal programmes or be prepared to offer at least a 1 day 1/2 day visit? Maybe a long shot ... https://www.womeninstem.co.uk/breaking-stereotypes/mclaren-women-smashing-stereotypes/

Finally, I realise it's not what your daughter is aiming for, but have you thought of getting a holiday job in hospitality at one of the F1 tracks? There's a real staff shortage in all hospitality and work experience is about experience of work not just experience in the particular speciality. (I once saw someone who had a holiday job at Alton Towers weave that into his personal statement for engineering all about the mechanics of rollercoasters and talking about how the safety testing and public safety etc were important for everyone who worked there.) Similarly, do you have a go-karting track near you which might be willing to help - again not what she's aiming for but some experience of work.

Oh and have you tried contacting the Institution of Mechanical Engineers for contacts/ideas or is there anything at Nuffield? https://www.stem.org.uk/research-placements/students

I empathise! It's so difficult to find practical work experience in STEM!

@north51 There’s some great links here - thank you so much!!! She has registered for the online session this weekend.

@DibbleDooDah Someone else has mentioned Ginetta - I know it’s not F1 but the person who owns it is in contact with F1 teams and they encourage young people and having worked with them it is a great environment- it’s in Leeds so I know it would be a bit of a hassle but really worth contacting them to see what they can offer

@loz12345 We have relatives in York so not as disastrous location wise. They are on her list of people to contact. Thank you!!

Have you seen this? https://formulacareers.com/roles-in-f1/race-team/

Also some ideas of the possible careers here: https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/red-bull-racing-%26-red-bull-technology-jobs-worldwide?f_C=56417&trk=job-results_see-all-jobs-link&position=1&pageNum=0

If you had to pick one team to contact about future placement/jobs etc, Mercedes are probably your best bet. Susie Wolff is very involved in the all female driver race category (F1 Academy) and has been a strong advocate for gender equality in the sport.

Lewis Hamilton also has been part of the Girls on Track scheme and other diversity programs.

I think overall all the teams are pretty supportive of gender equality, but Mercedes seem to visibly be more proactive about this.

This is spot on

My year 12 son is in the same situation, totally obsessed with F1, currently looking at motorsport engineering courses at Oxford Brooks, Bath, Southampton etc & trying to find some sort of relevant work experience.

He has been offered a place on a virtual programme at Siemens via Springpod. He emailed lots of different places too but most didn't even reply.

Good luck to your daughter & you never know they may end up on the same Uni course together in a years time!

Hi OP
Further to my earlier post about Mercedes being a really proactive team for women in engineering. They posted this on their social media today.
https://www.mercedesamgf1.com/news/inwed-2023-how-were-inspiring-female-engineers-of-the-future?fbclid=IwAR0lAN8y6Mu29JU1SEYo8gUuvObJhhQOnpScWP_eHPbf4W9NnHbiAyCUg1o

@Lionoso Mercedes are definitely doing the most out of all the teams.

She has a list of people and places she is going to get in touch with over the summer to hopefully line things up for next year.

There have been some great recommendations on here - thank you!!

There’s a girl involved in equestrian PR, Katie. I think it’s Riviera PR if you look it up. She was an engineer in F1 and is still involved to an extent I think. She seems really approachable and I’m sure would give you and your daughter some advice if you were to send a quick message, worth a shot anyway. A lovely person. Keep aiming high 😉

There's a really good podcast called F1R the Girls, which are three female F1 fans talking about F1 (sounds obvious, I know!)

They have made a point of interviewing women involved in F1 and asking about their career path etc? They did an episode with Bernie Collins that was particularly interesting, might be worth your DD listening for some ideas?

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/f1r-the-girls-a-formula-1-podcast/id1617936333?i=1000597420920

Hi. I could write this exact post 2 years on. My daughter is doing the same Alevels that yours did. Just wondering if you managed to get anywhere with work experience? Thanks

What type of F1 engineer does your daughter want to be. There are several different types - what area of the work interests her. DH is a gear box engineer no longer with a team, but worked on setting up the schools carting project and F1 academy before moving into his current role.
Most teams now offering widening participation scholarships from 18, they are on their website.

DH came from the rally world cut his teeth there and then moved to F1. If it is aero she is interested most engineers start in power boats and then move to F1.
Her A-levels would make strategy an option after maths based degree.
First thing she needs to work out is which bit of F1 is her passion. The vast majority of the life is unglamorous and it demands a huge amount of commitment. The teams employ approx. 1000 people, but only about 60 travel. This is being tightened with cost cap and push to net zero.

My son has years placement at an F1 team. He’s at Warwick between Y3 and Y4.

I think your daughter is too young for F1 work experience yet. Many older , more capable students desperately want it.

My son only had work experience at a packaging machinery factory for his UCAS: many of the rules of engineering are the same in F1 as they are everywhere. I think that’s probably better than a £2k course

(Eg identifying problems to be dolf, iterating improvements, finding root cause of faults etc)

His route in was via Formula Student at uni. Be careful which uni you go to. some of the teams buy in more parts They get better resuls and innovate less. The F1 teams are more interested in innovating . He also got work experience at WMG (allied to Uni of Warwick) over summer one year which was useful I think.

Also go to Fornula Student in July at Silverstone (it’s not expensive. £25 or so. I think you can camp). Talk to the teams . All the big F1 teams are there too, talk to them.

I have also heard of people doing marshalling for karting / other motorsports which might be worth looking into.

@DibbleDooDah , not specific to F1, but its worth subscribing to the Royal Institution mailing list for details of their events, especially their summer workshops, in case there is something relevant. In the past they have done things like crash testing (using eggs) and robotic car building (using Mindstorms). The good thing about them is that the groups are very age restricted, so she willbe with like minded peers.

I'm another advocate for the Smallpeice Trust courses - most of them are first come first served, but they do hold back 50% of places for girls, so look out for the mailing list emails.

My DD has managed to get some work experience at 16. She worked with a GB4 team for a week and has worked at a racing simulation company. She is also now old enough to be a volunteer marshal. She is also waiting to hear back on the Williams work experience programme after having made the final round.

To add that she was also really impressed by Southampton Uni who are actively encouraging more females to apply for their aero course. It felt very inclusive and “conscious” without being forced or simply a box ticking exercise.