The search for an opportunity or a first job in Formula 1 is normally a long and tiring road. Motorsport often appears to be a closed shop which has no openings or desire to give newcomers a chance. It can be a very dispiriting struggle.
I’ve spoken in the past about where to look for openings in racing but just imagine if there was a place where a host of racing companies, keen to recruit young people and give them a first opportunity in motorsport, came together under one roof. The Autosport International Show which took place in January brings much of the motorsport world together but it isn’t solely about recruitment. The Motorsport Industry Association (MIA) however have announced a new initiative that could be the most important date on your calendar this year.
The first Motorsport and Automotive Jobs Fair will take place at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit on March 9th 2016 and promises to be the start of something quite special for aspiring motorsport candidates.
The MIA is the world’s leading trade association for the motorsport, performance engineering sector. Established in April 1994, leading personalities in British motorsport joined forces to form their own trade association with the aim of promoting one of the UK’s most successful industries. They have created a number of initiatives, including National Motorsport Week, aimed at bringing together motorsport constructors and suppliers to strengthen the industry as well as creating positive links to educational institutions.
In this latest addition they are bringing together motorsport recruiters from across the industry to create a careers far focussed solely on bring new recruits into the industry. Teams and companies involved are being encouraged to bring along their own recent graduates or apprentice recruits who will be on hand to lend their experiences and knowledge to you the potential future of the industry. Registration and attendance for students is entirely free.
http://www.the-mia.com/First-Motorsport-Automotive-Jobs-Fair-Silverstone-Wing-9-March-972
As many of you will know from attending the Grand Prix there, getting to Silverstone via public transport can be challenging but I highly recommend making the trek from wherever you are to this event for a number of reasons. Having a car is ideal of course but there are bus services to Silverstone village from nearby Northampton and the circuit itself is only a short walk from there.
With this being the first running of the event, and especially with the announcement coming just a few weeks before the proposed date, attendance may be much smaller this year than in years to come. You are likely to get much more direct attention and advice from exhibitors this year as a result and you should be ready to take advantage. Make sure that your CV is up to date and write a generic covering letter to go with it that you can leave with each employer. I would suggest that you even go as far as putting your documents in a small document wallet or something similar so that it will not be discarded quite so easily. The recipient is likely to be much more impressed and ready to take notice if you appear fully prepared.
It will be interesting to see how this event develops, it could become a key feature on the recruitment calendar and so you would be a fool to ignore this opportunity even if you are not yet of an age where you are ready to work full time. Work experience and work placements are always ideal opportunities to get your career started and you should be looking to offer your services in whatever capacity you can.
Good luck.
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10 thoughts on “A place where motorsport is looking for you”
First comment on this Website, so first of all: BIG THANKS! I learn a lot here… It’s much appreciated
I’m from Spain so I can’t take this big opportunity…. 🙁
It really looks so nice. I wish I can do my after degree studies in UK so I can be more active, being near tracks and events like this. I hope to read opinions and comments after this event. it might become a really important yearly opportunity!
Big thanks for all your free work here….It´s highly appreciated !
This looks like a huge opportunity. However Im limited for where I live (Spain), I dont even have tracks near my home, and motorsport here is not popular
I am still at my 3er year of Mechanical Engineering, but I would want to know If it´s a good idea to think about making some post graduate studies in the UK….Where I can be near this kind of events and near tracks to go around and talk people
However that´s not that easy….I would need lot of money unless masters have scholarship or something. I dont know hot it works yet
What would you recommend me? I still need to do 4º year, but I want to have the idea about, what next?
Maybe try to do son partial job in UK so I can deepen my english and move around tracks and so?
Hi Javier
Thanks for your comments and especially glad that you like the site.
I would not worry too much about living in Spain as opposed to the UK. There are a few race circuits here but not as many as you might expect. Very few people are lucky enough to live near to one – I should know because I was one of them. I lived hundreds of kilometres from the nearest race circuit when I was growing up. From what I know, motorcycling is very popular in spain and could be a good way to get involved. There is a list of professional race circuits on here if this is any use ?
http://racingcircuits.info/europe/spain/
or here :
Permanent circuits
Circuito de Albacete, Albacete
Circuito de Almería, Tabernas, Almería
Circuito de Velocidad de Cartagena, Cartagena
dagger Formula One GP Venue Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló (Barcelona)
Circuito Guadix, Granada
Mallorca RennArena, L’Arenal, (Palma de Mallorca)[1]
dagger Formula One GP Venue Circuito Permanente del Jarama, Madrid
dagger Formula One GP Venue Circuito Permanente de Jerez, Jerez de la Frontera
Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo, Cheste (Valencia)
Circuit de Calafat, L’Ametlla de Mar
Circuito de Navarra, Los Arcos
Circuito La Torrica, Fuente Álamo de Murcia[1]
Circuit d’Alcarràs, Alcarràs
Circuito de Tenerife, Telde, Gran Canaria[1]
Ciudad del Motor de Aragón, Alcañiz
Parcmotor Castellolí, Castellolí (Barcelona)
Monteblanco, Huelva
Future circuits[edit]
Circuito les Coves, Castellon
El Espacio Del Motor, Pinto, Madrid
Test circuits[edit]
Ascari Race Resort, Ronda[1]
Idiada Test Track, Santa Oliva, Tarragona[1]
Rallycross circuits[edit]
Ciudad Deportiva Islas Canarias, Telde, Gran Canaria[1][13]
In truth there are not many universities here which are near to race circuits either but that doesn’t matter too much. The amount of amateur motorsport that goes on away from the larger circuits is quite considerable but it takes a little bit more work to find it. Whereabouts do you actually live and/or study ? Have you looked for karting circuits nearby ? Does your university have a Formula Student team ?
This link will take you to the website of the FIA affiliated motor club in Spain. I expect that they will govern most of the motorsport events in your country and so it might be worth contacting them ?
http://www.rfeda.es/competicion
From here you could even contact the series organisers and find competitors who live in your area. You never know but you should explore and find out.
Certainly studying in the UK will bring you closer to the F1 teams and the greater concentration of motorsport companies that we have here in motorsport valley. You should look into Cranfield University in particular for that.
I hope that has helped a little bit – please feel free to contact me again if you want anything more !
Maybe take a look at this too ?
http://camposracing.com/university-advanced-course/
and this of course even if you are not involved in a team :
http://www.formulastudent.es/volunteers-FSS.html
Thanks :))
Yes, motos are more popular, but actually I don’t like moto too much…I’m not interested in that at all
I live and study in Madrid. Jarama circuit still exists but it’s barely used.. Only for amateurs and little trophies. But I’ll acude there when there is something interesting
Then, the rest of tracks are far away from here. But I’ll get into them when I have a chance.
About formula student. I tried to join this season but there weren’t any vacancy. I’ll try next year of course
Yes, there is some Karting tracks near. But I don’t think that could help too much, people there are basically fans and amateurs
About that course in motorsport,I’m gonna search about that. However, this usually is not cheap, I’ll need to check if I can afford, and of course if it worth it or not. Anyway I have more than one year to decide 🙂
Finally if you don’t mind, I have some important doubts. About how is it to be there…
The thing is, I have passion for racing, of course. Don’t mind F1 or any other subcategories (not motorcycling xD). But, I don’t think I’m interested in something factory or just office related. I mean that , what I like is to be in the track. What I like (love) is the competition itself. Not the design, etc for itself
I mean, I don’t mind to be working in a car factory vs working in a, let’s say, power central, or any other engineer job
So what I want to learn about is how difficult is to get in actual races, actual competition, vs get in ‘ factory teams’. Because, I would prefer to work in Madrid (for example) in any normal factory better than working in another country, far from home, friends, etc, but in a car factory
I’m sorry for too much reading. But it’s important for me to know that so I can not distract with something I would end not doing because I don’t like xD
I thank you a lot this free support!
Hi Javi
Location wise I think you will struggle if you are not prepared to move. Racing takes place all over the world which is great but at the same time, to be successful in motorsport you need to be flexible and be prepared to relocate. I grew up in the UK but in an area far away from Formula 1 teams. I ended up going to America for several years working in IndyCar which was not my first love (I’ll admit) but it gave me experience and built up my CV to a point where I could apply to F1 teams. I ended up back in the UK but in a completely different place away from my family. This is just a small sacrifice for doing what I wanted to do.
If you work at the track you still have to be factory based. The work is so much more than just being at the circuit. You may travel quite a lot but the rest of the time you will be back with the designers, the simulator and preparing for the next races with simulation and setup requirements. For Formula 1 at present, there are no teams in Spain and so you will not be able to live in Madrid and work in F1. That much is a given.
Have a read of this if you have not already :
http://jobinf1.com/2013/02/13/where-you-need-to-be-to-work-in-f1/
Good luck
I had not saw that article, really good info
Ok, I understand that moving is a needed sacrifice, it´s ok
However I think I misspoken about factory vs track. It´s obvious that being in tracks doesn’t mean not to be in office/factory too. That´s something I would love, to work in factory + tracks
But, I would not like at all to be only at factory. What I like here is the competition, and I want to be inside
Im sorry for off topic here, but would you tell me a little view about the possibilities of not going to competition/races and only be in factory? Is that probable? Let´s say, how much % of the team go to races?
I would make all sacrifices If it means going to competition, but I would not make any for staying only in UK at the headquarters …(I´d rather go to formula renault, wtcc or whichever)
Hi Javi
In F1, most people stay at the factory. Some of the bigger teams employ around 800 people, and only around 50 of those go to races so its a small percentage. F1 teams are primarily design and manufacturing companies who make racing cars. The fact that they actually race the end product is a very small part of their overall activity.
For other racing categories, whose cars are less technical (lets say BTCC, WEC, NASCAR or WRC) or are bought in from an outside supplier (GP2, IndyCar etc.) a much larger percentage of the team go to the races. In GP3 or lower formulas it is almost the entire team that go trackside but overall the teams are much, much smaller anyway (say 10 people).
The disciplines of trackside and factory based are actually very different and the approaches for gaining the relevant experience have significant differences. One thing I would say is that you are far from alone in wanting this “trackside” dream. Almost everyone starts out with this ideal but you should be prepared to compromise or find your way there by other routes if necessary.
Understood. That´s fine. Actually I dont dream about being in trackside in F1. But I do in other categories where it´s more realistic to happen
Thanks for the info 🙂 As a suggestion I would tell you to make a post describing your past jobs in racing not F1 related 🙂
Thanks again
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