Thread by @CalumArmstrong1

How I got a job in #FormulaOne . 🏁

Since I've had quite a lot of people reach out to me, looking for advice about getting a job in Formula 1, I thought it would be helpful to write a thread to share my experiences and the path I took to get there.🧵

I started off by studying Motorsport Design Engineering back home in Scotland. We didn't have a Formula Student team but we did have a Formula Ford. We worked on this and took it to the track throughout the course. This was my first hands on experience with a Race Car.

After I graduated with my BEng(Hons) degree, I moved down to England to study a Master's degree in Advanced Motorsport Engineering at Cranfield uni. My priority at the time was to graduate from Cranfield with my MSc. Although, I also recognised that experience is key to success.

So, I volunteered to help out a Formula Ford racing team, Enigma Motorsport. I did Data Engineering for them whenever I was free and also helped out in the workshop. This was definitely valuable experience for my CV.

I wasn't confident/ lucky enough to get a job in F1 straight after graduating from uni. So I worked for 2 automotive companies, Titan and then YASA ltd, over a period around 2.5 years. I gained lots of experience and confidence during this time.

While working, I was also applying for various jobs in F1 teams. I had interviews for a few different teams. I got rejected several times due to a lack of experience. But I always took the positives from my interviews and learned for the next one.

After trying and trying, I finally got a job at Alpha Tauri F1!

Eventually I applied to Mercedes AMG F1 and now that I had built up several years experience, I got the job.

To summarise:

(1) Experience is key. Gain any valuable engineering
experience wherever you can ( it doesn't
necessarily have to be motorsport related).

(2) Never give up! Job rejections can be difficult to
deal with but try and take positives from them and
use the feedback to learn for the next one. F1 is
incredibly competitive to get into, so just keep
trying and eventually you can make it!