Apprenticeships in f1

[siskue2005]

Guys, any chance for Doctors in F1?

[domdogger]

Contact the FIA?

[czt]

As in, Doctors that support race weekends?

If so, I suspect your best route would be to specialise in a trauma related area, and push hard to help out at your local club events, then progressively do more and more high level events as you gain experience.

[TomB96]

Hey, could someone tell me what the best option is to get into F1? At this moment in time i am doing my GCSE's expecting 10 GCSE's at grade B or above am thinking of doing A levels after and then going on to uni to study motorsport engineering. is this the best option or is getting more experience in an apprenticeship or college better instead of A levels?

Cheers, Tom

[TomB96]

Hey, could someone tell me what the best option is to get into F1? At this moment in time i am doing my GCSE's expecting 10 GCSE's at grade B or above am thinking of doing A levels after and then going on to uni to study motorsport engineering. is this the best option or is getting more experience in an apprenticeship or college better instead of A levels?

Cheers, Tom

[Jersey Tom]

My 2 cents-

Don't. Focus. On. F1. Aspire to be a professional, not just a fan. If you get yourself an education in a field of engineering which you like and are talented in, and that happens to be applicable to motor racing, and you are at a point in your life when you can work high hours for low pay - THEN you can cross that bridge.

By the time you graduate you may have no interest in working in racing, believe it or not!

[hardingfv32]

By the time you graduate you may have no interest in working in racing, believe it or not!

Tell me it ain't so Joe.

Brian

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

The way F1 is going now with rules, you can bet in 10 years pretty much 95% of designs will be nigh on identical.

For that 5% to make a difference will depend on which area is the prevalent performance differentiator, as in aero, tyres or engines.

And that 5% will be quickly copied too if it makes much of a difference. The big money earners in F1 now are people outside of the technical domain. Just the other day I had a chat with an unspecified member of a UK based team, and the sentiment was echoed.

The PR people are the movers and shakers of F1 now...love it or hate. Come to think of it, they have been for sometime now. But if your aiming for big dollars in F1 being an engineer....forget it. Sadly.

[Jersey Tom]

The way F1 is going now with rules, you can bet in 10 years pretty much 95% of designs will be nigh on identical.

For that 5% to make a difference will depend on which area is the prevalent performance differentiator, as in aero, tyres or engines.

And that 5% will be quickly copied too if it makes much of a difference. The big money earners in F1 now are people outside of the technical domain. Just the other day I had a chat with an unspecified member of a UK based team, and the sentiment was echoed.

The PR people are the movers and shakers of F1 now...love it or hate. Come to think of it, they have been for sometime now. But if your aiming for big dollars in F1 being an engineer....forget it. Sadly.

Not sure I agree with that. What about stock car racing then? Engineering is an immense differentiation in performance.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Im talking about F1 JT.

My knowledge of stock cars is limited to say the least. But I'm sure you are privy to knowledge I'm not.

[Jersey Tom]

Just making the point that even in a series where design freedom is let's say fairly restricted, there's still good opportunity to be a successful engineer.

Though now that I re-read your post, I certainly agree with the point on money (or lack thereof) in F1 engineering - particularly at the entry levels. That's from what I hear anyway. Perhaps at the more senior levels the pay is quite good.

This all goes back to the point of planning to be a well-rounded professional and having the flexibility of going into a variety of fields.. rather than just putting on the blinders and chasing down F1. Exceedingly rare for someone going into uni to know precisely what they're going to be doing or what "life situation" they'll have when they graduate.

Evidenced quite well by how many show up for Formula Student / SAE meetings and then quickly flake out... then even of those who lived doing it for several years, how few end up actually choosing to go onto pro racing.

[bhall]

My knowledge of stock cars is limited to say the least.

I, too, know squat about stock cars, because, frankly, it just doesn't excite me. However, it absolutely makes sense that engineering in a spec-series would carry far more weight than it does in F1, where even a shoddily-engineered concept can win if it's a good one.

There's a reason why the same teams fight at the front of NASCAR year in and year out. It's because they do it "right" every time.

(I'm sure JT will correct me if I've gotten this wrong.)

[Jersey Tom]

There's a reason why the same teams fight at the front of NASCAR year in and year out. It's because they do it "right" every time.

(I'm sure JT will correct me if I've gotten this wrong.)

I'd say there's validity to that. No different than anything else. More resources and talent = higher chance of success.

I didn't think much of stock car racing until I started working in it. Was much more into following F1. Say what we may, but the racing is close and it's anyone's race every week. Takes more engineering and driving talent than you'd think. Entertainment factor is certainly there in any event.

Just more ammo to the point of... there's more opportunity in motorsport engineering than just F1, and there's more opportunity in high performance engineering than just motorsport.

[Lycoming]

Whats it like getting into GT car or endurance racing? ALMS, GT1, GT3, DTM... How does getting a job as an engineer in those sort of series differ from trying to get an engineering job in F1?

[szilva01]

Hello!
I applied this year for WilliamsF1's apprenticeship, but apart from this quite old article I didn't find anything about the selection process. I'm here to ask if someone has experience or some useful info on this matter.
szilva