Less than the percent of NCAA basketball players that reach the NBA

Formula 1 engineers make up approximately 0.0001% of the world population. The amount of dreamers vying to work amongst them far outnumbers the positions available. So, what does it take?

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Typical Pathing

• Undergrad: Use summer placement internship to find mentors/connections to industry, research helps too
  • Aerospace Engineering, specialization in aerodynamics/fluid dynamics
  • Check out coursework that would help you for other roles in Design Office (ex: composite design); Also, try to find undergrad course in Motorsport Engineering (more reputable in Europe)
  • Many F1 teams operate a formal year-long program where you’ll become an active member of the group. This offers the chance to become fully immersed in the industry and gain experience working on actual problems within the team. Shorter term summer placements are also run by F1 teams (Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes AMG) offering the chance of getting some experience working in the industry. INTERNSHIPS/CO-OPs
• Post-Grad: Thesis advisor is helpful to break into industry
  • Boosts your CV
  • Watch out for NDA’s in your research though that may limit your work
• PhD: Thesis advisor is helpful to break into industry
  • Very debatable, not necessarily useful to work in industry
• Important Skills: Design Technology, Computer Science, Data Science, Math, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

Who are you?

I’m just an undergraduate aerospace engineering student. I can’t guarantee one path that works because I have not lived it myself. I can’t say for sure that I will end up in that 0.0001% myself.

However, I can take everything I learn from following 0.0001 percenters and conglomerate it here as a set of ideas to be thinking about if you want to consider Formula 1 Engineering as a career path. The best thing we can all do on this journey is trust the process and remain vigilant.

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