For many people, employment in the motorsports industry has everything: excitement, travel, competition, money. But the reality is that it takes a lot of hard work and study to become a professional in the industry; and most of the jobs available are for specialists. However, teams come and go all the time and new job opportunities follow.
Thousands of Applications
Each major team, or manufacturer, has many different employees. Skills needed vary from beginner/trainee to Doctorate. Competition for any job is high – especially during difficult economic times - but that does not mean that teams or manufacturers are not on the outlook for talented individuals. However, the common approach of sending an email with a resume attachment is very unlikely to succeed today (the McLaren F1 team regularly gets two to three thousand speculative applications a week).
So, what jobs are there in a motorsport team? The following list is not exhaustive, but typical of a national level team. In the manufacturing sector, the motorsport industry tends to follow the aerospace model.
Typical Team Members:
- Crew Chief
- The crew chief has overall control of the team. He (or she) is the team representative at all meetings and has final say on any team decisions.
- Engineer
- Although there are many disciplines of engineer, in a motorsport team they are primarily concerned with technical and performance aspects of the car. Bigger teams will have engineers for: vehicle dynamics, electrical, engine and gearbox, data logging, and aerodynamics.
- Chief Mechanic
- During the course of car preparation at the team’s base, and many times at the track, the car will require parts replacing. The chief mechanic will designate certain jobs to his assistants, but will be in charge of all mechanical work (hands-on) on the car.
- Data Log Specialist
- This position is generally filled by an electrical engineer with specialist knowledge of data collection systems. His job is to download data from the car (sometimes done in real time – telemetry) and present the information to the race engineer.
- Number One Mechanic
- Each number one mechanic will be responsible for all work on a particular car (in the case of a multi car team). He will ensure that all work is performed to the highest level and in a timely manor.
- Number Two Mechanic
- Following the lead of the number one mechanic, the number two will concentrate the less complex mechanical jobs (changing wheels, removing bodywork, charging batteries, etc.).
- Pit Crew
- Some teams employ a specialist pit crew (NASCAR in particular) to refuel and change wheels/tires during a pit stop. However, for most teams, the mechanics will double up duties and undertake pit stop work (even in F1).
- Cleaner
- Every team, from F1 to an owner driver, must present a clean car; it is safer and more professional. The job of a cleaner is not only to ensure the vehicle looks presentable, but also to check it over during the cleaning process. With the wheels removed for cleaning, for instance, a cleaner can check the brake pads and report his findings to the mechanics. He can also check for body damage, and again, report his findings.
- PR (public relations)
- Each team will want to get maximum publicity from their endeavors; especially if they want to keep their sponsors. The job of the PR person is to relay information about the team. Sometimes they will be announcing a win, other times explaining why the car broke, but always in a positive manor.
Although there are many more jobs within motorsport, the main team personnel positions will follow the above list. The bigger the team (McLaren employ over 600 people in their F1 department), the greater the number of employees needed.
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