Guest Column
'A completely new admiration for the sport’ - A weekend in the life of an F1 ACADEMY Career Discovery Programme student in Singapore
My Name is Ella Welch, I’m 18 and I have just finished school. I have always been interested in Formula 1, but as someone who is interested in Marketing, PR and Journalism, I always believed that the opportunities to get into the world of F1 were limited.
Having grown up around motorsport, I knew about F1 ACADEMY and loved what they did but I didn’t know if there was going to be much that I could do with them. After being introduced to the Career Discovery Programme, I was on the plane and on my way to the Singapore Grand Prix.
THURSDAY: ARRIVAL & TRACK WALK
Showing up to Gate 2 at midday in my white polo and blue trousers, I truly felt a part of something bigger. We arrived and were immediately welcomed with open arms into the world of F1 ACADEMY. I met the other five students who were also partaking in the Programme, we made our introductions and as Pilar came to greet us, I could tell the weekend was going to fly by.
We talked about how she had gotten here, her career and her past in the industry. After hearing about her time as a promoter for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, it really dawned on me how much there was to the sport which I couldn’t even have imagined. The range of career opportunities that were being broadcasted to us all were so inspiring and I saw a whole new scope of possibilities. Having been there for less than an hour, I already felt inspired by the powerful women that surrounded me.
Then, we were given the chance to go on a track walk with an F1 ACADEMY team. After each of us had been sent off to our teams, we walked around the streets of Singapore, only days before the first race. Seeing the vans finishing the setup of the circuit showed me how close to the wire race operations really are.
As I followed the Rodin Motorsport team around the track, I listened in to each of the drivers’ discussions with their engineers — how they'll take the corners, which angle to in come from, where to brake, and so on. I was able to see the depth and detail they go into for each and every corner and how much fine-tuning goes into their planning before the race.
READ MORE: Round 5 in Review: Feeling the heat and running the streets
I also had the opportunity to talk with Rodin’s PR manager, Jodie Kemp. Although the engineering side was intriguing to hear about, personally I understand more about the business and commercial aspects of the sport, so being able to question her about her role within the team allowed me to develop a deeper understanding of the way that the social media aspect of the marketing is run and seeing everything that goes into it.
FRIDAY: TIME FOR PRACTICE & PADDOCK TOURS
On Friday, the drivers took part in their only Free Practice of the weekend. As they and their teams were preparing and lined up the cars along the streets outside the paddock, we watched the process of getting all the drivers ready under the sweltering heat of the Singapore sun. The drivers then took to the circuit, making their way to the pit lane as the engineers ran around to meet them there and we followed closely after.
Shortly after watching Practice, we were lucky enough to be given the opportunity to visit the ETC, the Event Technical Centre. We learnt all about the complex workings behind how they set up the cameras, film and distribute all of the content for F1TV and other broadcasters. They explained how they decide what gets streamed and the amount of people it takes to minimise the delay time from filming to live TV.
Being able to explore this new angle allowed me to further round out my understanding and love for motorsport. The more time I was spending with F1 ACADEMY, the more I was immersed into the sport and my admiration for all those working within the industry grew.
I was given the opportunity to express and share this experience when a group of 50 local students came to visit the F1 ACADEMY paddock in the afternoon. I spoke with 15 of them, as they asked about what the series did, how it works and a lot of them expressed interest in joining, and seemed to understand the ways that they could get into the sport. I truly felt like F1 ACADEMY and I were making a difference in these young people’s lives and that by being given this experience, they could see the opportunities available to them in STEM, not only in the sport, but in all different fields.
Afterwards, the paddock opened up to the public for an hour, as fans were given access to see the cars and their favourite drivers. We answered questions they had about the field and a young girl approached us and expressed her interest in becoming an engineer. Giving her the chance to talk to some of the engineers, as well as the drivers, it felt like we were helping her to nurture this dream.
SATURDAY: RACE DAY & SHADOWING OPPORTUNITIES
Six other girls from McLaren’s 60 Scholars Programme joined us for the day, as we were able to do a pit lane walk before Race 1 began. Watching the race from a screen opposite the pit lane surrounded by all the engineers, we were able to fully take in the surroundings and the tension of a race.
After this, we headed back to the F1 ACADEMY paddock where I was given the amazing chance to shadow Hannah Prydderch, a Content Editor, as she spoke to the drivers for the website. She interviewed Tina Hausmann for her post-race reaction, Amna Al Qubaisi for the storylines of her journey, as well as speaking to Abbi Pulling about her top five career moments. Being able to see this range of interview styles taught me about the variety of interviews needed, the concise manner in which they are conducted and the amount of organisation it takes to get all the interviews sorted.
Lastly, we were whisked off to the McLaren garage, along with the girls from Cisco and McLaren, to be shown around their facilities. There we saw the workings that go on behind closed doors — from tyre heating, engineer training as well as having the details of the garage explained to us. We then met with Louise McEwen, the Chief Marketing Officer at McLaren, to learn about the decisions behind marketing strategies and the reasonings for the different approaches they use.
SUNDAY: CONDUCTING MY FIRST F1 ACADEMY INTERVIEW
Sunday came way too quickly as we prepared for the final F1 ACADEMY race in Singapore. We could see the pressure build up as the drivers prepared to try and gain some points in their last chance of the weekend, with the engineers added their final touches before the cars got ready to make a move.
We were able to watch the race from the Alpine pit wall. It’s not often you get to sit where the engineers would be, watching on as the race is streamed right in front of you and the cars whisk past down the main straight only metres away. It went by too quickly as soon we made our way over to the podium to celebrate Abbi’s second win of the weekend.
READ MORE: Chambers reflects on Singapore ‘bounce back’ as she drops a place in Drivers’ Standings
After making our way back to the paddock, I was able to interview Chloe Chambers for a post-race reaction article. I spoke to her about how she felt about her performance in the race, the track and her results. Gaining a new understanding of this aspect of the sport, carrying out the interview myself and writing it up was a completely new way to learn how to conduct these interviews and understand the type of questions they require.
My weekend drew to an end as I parted ways with the other students who had been on the programme with me, before going off to watch the F1 race.
CONCLUSION: OPENING MY EYES TO NEW POSSIBILITIES
I came into the weekend with a love for motorsport and an interest in learning more about it, and walked away with an entirely new understanding of the complex workings behind what we see streamed on TV.
Being given the opportunity to see all the different roles that go into creating a Formula 1 weekend, including the organisation and planning of the F1 ACADEMY races, gave me a completely new admiration for the sport. I have come away with many more options going forward, after being able to see how many career opportunities there are in F1 no matter what field you are interested in.