Proud father. Formula One content
Discussion
I couldn't find a suitable thread already running so my purely selfish, boasting humblebrag of a post starts here and i'll make no apologies as I am a rather proud father to my 21 yr old lad.
This post has been prompted by the photos posted below.
One from today and one from 2012.
My lad left school at 16 with some great exam results and went straight into A levels at college. He only lasted a few months as he decided it wasn't for him really which was a big shock and worry to myself and the wife.
He then managed to get himself into a motorsport course at the National College of Motorsport at Silverstone. My years of motorsport and car obsession rubbed off on him from an early age!
Unfortunately the college course and the college itself turned out be not as advertised and was a poorly run s
t show really.
So he quit that as well. Which again was another shock to us but not unexpected.
As he is a very motivated young man, he spent some time writing letters to the head of every junior formula race team in the UK.
This is roughly 3 years ago.
He managed to get a 3 day trial with a F4/F3 team.
They offered him a full time job as number 2 mechanic on the F4 team on day 3!
He then went on to work for that team for nearly the next 3 years.
They worked his arse off in that time, doing 100 hour weeks, flying round the world at the drop off a hat, hardly any holidays and just a very tough environment to work.
His team worked him very very hard and he rose to the challenge and worked his way up to number 1 mechanic on the F3 side.
This experience and confidence led him to applying to McLaren last summer and getting offered a job in the Heritage department which he started in September '25.
Again he has worked his socks off and instead of the multi year progression through the ranks, just before Christmas he was offered a full time job in build.
This means he started 2026 off as one of the youngest ever mechanics to work in the build side of the current Formula one cars.
His is now 6 weeks into his job and it is surreal to watch Norris and Piastri drive around Bahrain last week in the car my lad has built!
And back to what has prompted this post and just to show where hard work in life can get you...
We had a guided tour from him at the McLaren Technology Centre this afternoon and took this photo of him with the very well known McLaren F1LM.
Well, it took me right back 2012 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed where I took the second photo of the exact same F1LM with a much younger son where I remember him saying he would love to fix racing cars when he was older!
And here is!
Just a proud father post and wanted to share and thanks for reading.
This post has been prompted by the photos posted below.
One from today and one from 2012.
My lad left school at 16 with some great exam results and went straight into A levels at college. He only lasted a few months as he decided it wasn't for him really which was a big shock and worry to myself and the wife.
He then managed to get himself into a motorsport course at the National College of Motorsport at Silverstone. My years of motorsport and car obsession rubbed off on him from an early age!
Unfortunately the college course and the college itself turned out be not as advertised and was a poorly run s
t show really.So he quit that as well. Which again was another shock to us but not unexpected.
As he is a very motivated young man, he spent some time writing letters to the head of every junior formula race team in the UK.
This is roughly 3 years ago.
He managed to get a 3 day trial with a F4/F3 team.
They offered him a full time job as number 2 mechanic on the F4 team on day 3!
He then went on to work for that team for nearly the next 3 years.
They worked his arse off in that time, doing 100 hour weeks, flying round the world at the drop off a hat, hardly any holidays and just a very tough environment to work.
His team worked him very very hard and he rose to the challenge and worked his way up to number 1 mechanic on the F3 side.
This experience and confidence led him to applying to McLaren last summer and getting offered a job in the Heritage department which he started in September '25.
Again he has worked his socks off and instead of the multi year progression through the ranks, just before Christmas he was offered a full time job in build.
This means he started 2026 off as one of the youngest ever mechanics to work in the build side of the current Formula one cars.
His is now 6 weeks into his job and it is surreal to watch Norris and Piastri drive around Bahrain last week in the car my lad has built!
And back to what has prompted this post and just to show where hard work in life can get you...
We had a guided tour from him at the McLaren Technology Centre this afternoon and took this photo of him with the very well known McLaren F1LM.
Well, it took me right back 2012 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed where I took the second photo of the exact same F1LM with a much younger son where I remember him saying he would love to fix racing cars when he was older!
And here is!
Just a proud father post and wanted to share and thanks for reading.
Edited by nessiemac on Sunday 15th February 00:31
Echo of the above.
I love this quote by Usain Bolt, thousands of people will have a dream like your son, but very few will put the work in and take the risks needed to make that dream come true!! You must be very proud
.
Dreams are free. Goals have a cost. While you can daydream for free, goals don t come without a price. Time, Effort, Sacrifice, and Sweat. How will you pay for your goals?
I love this quote by Usain Bolt, thousands of people will have a dream like your son, but very few will put the work in and take the risks needed to make that dream come true!! You must be very proud
.Dreams are free. Goals have a cost. While you can daydream for free, goals don t come without a price. Time, Effort, Sacrifice, and Sweat. How will you pay for your goals?
nessiemac said:
My lad left school at 16 with some great exam results and went straight into A levels at college. He only lasted a few months as he decided it wasn't for him really which was a big shock and worry to myself and the wife.
.....he started 2026 off as one of the youngest ever mechanics to work in the build side of the current Formula one cars.
Wow! That's quite some journey - no wonder you feel proud! .....he started 2026 off as one of the youngest ever mechanics to work in the build side of the current Formula one cars.
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