How to get a job in Formula One
Discussion
I've seen quite a few posts on here over the years asking about careers in F1 and motorsport.
After more than fifteen years in the industry, it's one of the questions I get asked most often. There are also quite a few misconceptions about how difficult it is to get in, and what the money is actually like once you're there.
I've recently started writing about my experiences in Formula One as a bit of a hobby. It's a balancing act between telling interesting stories and not saying anything that could get me sacked...Careers felt like a fairly safe topic.
I've put together an article this morning on some of the most common routes into Formula One, the types of jobs people often overlook, and why the route into the industry is usually very different from what people imagine.
https://ghostlap.substack.com/p/how-to-get-a-job-i...
Happy to answer any questions if I've missed anything. At some point I'll probably do a deeper dive into specific roles, salary ranges and what teams actually look for when they're hiring.
Hopefully someone finds it useful.
Cheers.
After more than fifteen years in the industry, it's one of the questions I get asked most often. There are also quite a few misconceptions about how difficult it is to get in, and what the money is actually like once you're there.
I've recently started writing about my experiences in Formula One as a bit of a hobby. It's a balancing act between telling interesting stories and not saying anything that could get me sacked...Careers felt like a fairly safe topic.
I've put together an article this morning on some of the most common routes into Formula One, the types of jobs people often overlook, and why the route into the industry is usually very different from what people imagine.
https://ghostlap.substack.com/p/how-to-get-a-job-i...
Happy to answer any questions if I've missed anything. At some point I'll probably do a deeper dive into specific roles, salary ranges and what teams actually look for when they're hiring.
Hopefully someone finds it useful.
Cheers.
. xyz123 said:
Not a question but really insightful article and very well written as well. Thank you.
Really appreciate that, thank you for reading. I’ve joked with colleagues over the years we could write a book or start a podcast about the things we see or talk about at work, but in the interests of remaining employed, we never have.
7 posts in and I’m enjoying the process so far.
Edited by GhostLap on Wednesday 10th June 22:12
I missed out on the chance to do some work at Red Bull Racing. Only IT stuff, but still...
I was working for a consultancy at the time, running a project at a Big 4 accountancy firm which had gone very well. My manager at the consultancy wanted me to work on the RB project, but was nervous about pissing off a major customer by pulling me out unexpectedly. So he approached them to ask if he could swap me out for someone else - but they said no, they wanted to keep me there.
I knew nothing about this - I only found out when I finally left over two years later, and we went to the pub for drinks. One of the managers said 'I'm sorry about Red Bull Racing mate, you must have been disappointed'. I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about - so he confessed what had happened.
Disappointing, but at the same time, I knew the guy who ended up doing the work there and it sounded like a very dull project. So, maybe more of a lucky escape!
I was working for a consultancy at the time, running a project at a Big 4 accountancy firm which had gone very well. My manager at the consultancy wanted me to work on the RB project, but was nervous about pissing off a major customer by pulling me out unexpectedly. So he approached them to ask if he could swap me out for someone else - but they said no, they wanted to keep me there.
I knew nothing about this - I only found out when I finally left over two years later, and we went to the pub for drinks. One of the managers said 'I'm sorry about Red Bull Racing mate, you must have been disappointed'. I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about - so he confessed what had happened.
Disappointing, but at the same time, I knew the guy who ended up doing the work there and it sounded like a very dull project. So, maybe more of a lucky escape!
Interesting stuff, though I guess very shop floor biased.
One of my siblings looked at working at Formula One Management, then later on were approached by {high profile team} for a top management role. Lots of public profile, shiny role, cool stuff, and probably some jollies for the rest of us.
Problem is it would have involved silly hours, *lots* of weekends & lots of time away, and once you strip the F1 gloss off it's hard work, not family friendly, for usually not that mega a reward. Looked at rationally it wasn't worth it.
I guess for some the novelty and excitement carry them through? Guess it also depends what your other options are work wise (I could see a lot of people could get stuck in a niche) but the fun of anything usually wears off and it's the rest of the job you need to look at.
Of course if you're going to be sat in a design office or a machine shop or whatever it probably makes little odds, you get the F1 gloss, and your only real downside is maybe the potential instability from year to year as rules and money shift.
One of my siblings looked at working at Formula One Management, then later on were approached by {high profile team} for a top management role. Lots of public profile, shiny role, cool stuff, and probably some jollies for the rest of us.
Problem is it would have involved silly hours, *lots* of weekends & lots of time away, and once you strip the F1 gloss off it's hard work, not family friendly, for usually not that mega a reward. Looked at rationally it wasn't worth it.
I guess for some the novelty and excitement carry them through? Guess it also depends what your other options are work wise (I could see a lot of people could get stuck in a niche) but the fun of anything usually wears off and it's the rest of the job you need to look at.
Of course if you're going to be sat in a design office or a machine shop or whatever it probably makes little odds, you get the F1 gloss, and your only real downside is maybe the potential instability from year to year as rules and money shift.
JoshSm said:
Interesting stuff, though I guess very shop floor biased.
One of my siblings looked at working at Formula One Management, then later on were approached by {high profile team} for a top management role. Lots of public profile, shiny role, cool stuff, and probably some jollies for the rest of us.
Problem is it would have involved silly hours, *lots* of weekends & lots of time away, and once you strip the F1 gloss off it's hard work, not family friendly, for usually not that mega a reward. Looked at rationally it wasn't worth it.
I guess for some the novelty and excitement carry them through? Guess it also depends what your other options are work wise (I could see a lot of people could get stuck in a niche) but the fun of anything usually wears off and it's the rest of the job you need to look at.
Of course if you're going to be sat in a design office or a machine shop or whatever it probably makes little odds, you get the F1 gloss, and your only real downside is maybe the potential instability from year to year as rules and money shift.
That’s a fair observation. My experience is definitely factory-biased because that’s where I’ve spent my career.One of my siblings looked at working at Formula One Management, then later on were approached by {high profile team} for a top management role. Lots of public profile, shiny role, cool stuff, and probably some jollies for the rest of us.
Problem is it would have involved silly hours, *lots* of weekends & lots of time away, and once you strip the F1 gloss off it's hard work, not family friendly, for usually not that mega a reward. Looked at rationally it wasn't worth it.
I guess for some the novelty and excitement carry them through? Guess it also depends what your other options are work wise (I could see a lot of people could get stuck in a niche) but the fun of anything usually wears off and it's the rest of the job you need to look at.
Of course if you're going to be sat in a design office or a machine shop or whatever it probably makes little odds, you get the F1 gloss, and your only real downside is maybe the potential instability from year to year as rules and money shift.
One thing I’ve noticed though is that the trade-offs are surprisingly similar across the industry.
The race team and senior management side often comes with travel, weekends and being away from home. The factory side tends to be more stable, but can still involve shifts, overtime and some fairly antisocial hours when things get busy.
I think a lot of people outside the sport imagine everyone in F1 is living some glamorous jet-setting lifestyle. The reality is that most people are making the same calculation as everyone else: interesting work versus time, money and family life.
For some people it’s absolutely worth it. For others it isn’t. I’ve known people leave Formula One and never look back, and I’ve known people turn down better-paid jobs elsewhere because they genuinely enjoy being part of it.
Like most things, the shine eventually wears off and you’re left with the job itself.
For me personally, my work life balance has never been so good, I work fewer hours than pretty much anyone I know who is a similar age outside of F1.
Very interesting stuff. I've worked in the industry for 12 years now (8 spent in-house at a team), but on the marketing side and there are a lot of parallels with your experiences. Personally, I just applied for a junior job and got it, much like any other job. However, there are plenty of people who get into the sport via working for an agency, or as a freelancer, or even getting a job with a team partner or supplier and making the move from there. I've also noticed plenty of people move from working for a team to one of those 'satellite' organisations and much prefer it!
I did have to laugh at your piece about team kit, as I also found the factory kit a bit bland and uninspiring, as well as being capable of getting you into some odd conversations!
I did have to laugh at your piece about team kit, as I also found the factory kit a bit bland and uninspiring, as well as being capable of getting you into some odd conversations!
BurnyF1 said:
Very interesting stuff. I've worked in the industry for 12 years now (8 spent in-house at a team), but on the marketing side and there are a lot of parallels with your experiences. Personally, I just applied for a junior job and got it, much like any other job. However, there are plenty of people who get into the sport via working for an agency, or as a freelancer, or even getting a job with a team partner or supplier and making the move from there. I've also noticed plenty of people move from working for a team to one of those 'satellite' organisations and much prefer it!
I did have to laugh at your piece about team kit, as I also found the factory kit a bit bland and uninspiring, as well as being capable of getting you into some odd conversations!
That’s interesting to hear, especially from a completely different side of the industry.I did have to laugh at your piece about team kit, as I also found the factory kit a bit bland and uninspiring, as well as being capable of getting you into some odd conversations!
One of the things I’ve realised while writing these posts is that there are probably far more routes into Formula One than people imagine. The “know somebody or have a first-class engineering degree” narrative seems to dominate, but most people I’ve met got in through a much less dramatic route.
I’ve definitely noticed the same thing with people moving between teams, suppliers, agencies and partners. Some seem much happier once they’re a step removed from the team itself.
Glad the uniform piece resonated too. It’s reassuring to know it wasn’t just me expecting something a bit more exciting than a stack of polo shirts and cargo trousers!
I got in to F1 purely via a recruitment agent calling me up, and certainly since I've been here (7.5 years or so) the rest of our team has also just been recruited (/ headhunted if you want to put it on your linkedin 
) through an agency and none of them had any prior F1 experience.
I'm in the manufacturing systems / development side of things, software developer previously, so again far from a classic 'F1' role, plenty of other companies across the world will have people doing similar things to me.
For me, although sometimes it is "just a job" day to day, the reality is you can always get up from your desk and go for a wander around campus and remind yourself that you could be making washing machines or roadside barriers, there's an F1 car in reception and people pay money just to see your place of work and will excitedly take pictures of a lorry because of the paint job.
I also find that the people you work with, I fortunately get to work with departments across the team as it's all one integrated system, it's genuinely inspiring having such switched on and enthusiastic people alongside you, having such a clearly defined and united goal etc., it suits my mindset very well anyway.
It's a bit surreal really, and I'm determined not to take it for granted. Can comfortably say that the excitement and love of it hasn't worn off yet, and despite occasionally very long hours, I don't really feel like I've worked for 7+ years, I love it.
) through an agency and none of them had any prior F1 experience.I'm in the manufacturing systems / development side of things, software developer previously, so again far from a classic 'F1' role, plenty of other companies across the world will have people doing similar things to me.
For me, although sometimes it is "just a job" day to day, the reality is you can always get up from your desk and go for a wander around campus and remind yourself that you could be making washing machines or roadside barriers, there's an F1 car in reception and people pay money just to see your place of work and will excitedly take pictures of a lorry because of the paint job.
I also find that the people you work with, I fortunately get to work with departments across the team as it's all one integrated system, it's genuinely inspiring having such switched on and enthusiastic people alongside you, having such a clearly defined and united goal etc., it suits my mindset very well anyway.
It's a bit surreal really, and I'm determined not to take it for granted. Can comfortably say that the excitement and love of it hasn't worn off yet, and despite occasionally very long hours, I don't really feel like I've worked for 7+ years, I love it.
GhostLap said:
Glad the uniform piece resonated too. It s reassuring to know it wasn t just me expecting something a bit more exciting than a stack of polo shirts and cargo trousers!
Just be glad you got polos & cargos; infinitely more practical than Hugo Boss trousers & Italian loafers. Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff