How To Get Into Formula 1

Maybe you want to be a world class driver and pilot a Ferrari or a Mercedes car for a living, making $20,000,000 a year and living the jet set life? Or maybe you'd rather be a world class car designer, mechanic, crew chief, or the chef for one of the big teams that travels the world to Monaco, France, Russian, Germany, Singapore,  Japan, etc. There are a lot of jobs in the Formula 1 world, with each of the ten teams employing hundreds of personnel at locations mostly in Great Britain, a few in Italy and Switzerland, and of course the USA's own Haas F1 team.

How do you get one of those jobs? Well, it usually takes years of working your way up from the lesser racing circuits, or getting a degree in engineering if you want to design the cars, or years as a mechanic if you want to be working on the cars during race weekends. One of the guys that was a TV announcer for NBCSN last year, Steve Matchett, has a few books based on his experience as a mechanic, and as I recall he started as a regular mechanic at a few dealerships before getting into F1. I suggest you read his book The Mechanic's Tale, it's a great read!  MATCHETT ON AMAZON

Want to be a driver? OK, you better start at about age 5 and spend ten years driving a go-kart, and then work your way up to driving in F1. Odds are that if you're reading this you are WAY past 5 years old, so maybe you can buy a kart for your kids, or grand kids, so good luck with that one.

When I retired from the Army last year, I applied on line to work at the McLaren F1 team in England, so, at least I can say I tried. They even sent me a very nice rejection email, so apparently I don't have the right stuff! From that experience I discovered that if you do a bit of Googling you can find all kinds of useful info. Today I found another job in F1, and believe it or not it's right here in the USA.

The Haas F1 team has a part time opening for a janitor at their HQ near Charlotte NC. Here' the link, I hope you get into F1. Good luck!

HAAS F1 CAREERS