I get a lot of comments and emails from people asking advice for how to get a job in F1. One recurring complaint that I hear is that there are never any jobs available that don’t require experience. It leaves young and inexperienced people forever on the outside and gives the impression that Formula 1 and motorsport are a closed shop. I know why this appears to be the case but I can tell you 100% that it isn’t true. This post will show you just how wrong that belief can be.
“Previous experience in a motorsport test or trackside environment is necessary”
These are the words that every aspiring Formula 1 employee hates to see. On the surface, these words accompany almost every F1 vacancy or job advert. Unless someone gives you the chance to get experience how do you ever get past this statement ?
Well the answer is actually quite straightforward. Notice that it DOES NOT say “Previous experience in a Formula 1 test or trackside environment is necessary”. That is a subtle yet crucial difference. If you then ask the question, are there ever any jobs advertised in motorsport that don’t require experience then the answer is a resounding yes.
If any of you have followed my twitter account this past few weeka then you will see exactly what I mean :
I spent just an hour or so looking through jobs pages of NON-F1 motorsport companies and I managed find an enormous number of graduate, apprentice and junior vacancies being advertised. None of these roles require previous motorsport experience of any kind and yet many of them offered the chance to work in high level global motorsport competitions. The experience and skills that you could gain in these types of roles would be instantly transferrable to a Formula 1 environment and the best thing is, when that next dream job of yours comes up asking for “previous motorsport experience”, guess what. You will have lifted yourself out of the masses and put yourself in that rare and privileged position to be able to say :
“That’s me”
Good luck and keep your eyes open.