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Earlier this summer, Charlene A, L6T, had the rare opportunity to go beyond the spectator’s view of Formula 1 and spend four days at Williams Racing headquarters as part of their Early Careers Work Experience programme. As an aspiring automotive engineer with a long-standing passion for motorsport, the insights she gained from numerous employees showed her what a potential career in the industry would be like and provided a clearer idea of the paths she could take after her A Levels. Here is her report on her experience, with some useful advice for prospective applicants.

'Every year, Williams’ Early Careers applications open in January available to pupils from Year 10 to Upper Sixth. Prior to that, I started to build up my CV with online motorsport courses and virtual work experience programmes relevant to the automotive industry and engineering. Additionally, I read books and biographies from pre-eminent motorsport personalities. The application consists of a CV alongside a short video displaying why you’re the best candidate. Making my video stand out was key because over the two months they had to shortlist pupils, they watched over 3000 application videos only to choose 125. If you were to apply, my advice would be to make your video as engaging as possible and not just sit in your bedroom for three minutes talking at the camera. It could include some background music, multiple filming locations, engaging transitions and some voice overs. Alternatively, you could make a PowerPoint with a voice-over if you’re camera-shy.

Arriving on the first day with a strange mixture of overwhelming excitement and nervousness was quickly replaced with genuine awe. Seeing their headquarters for the first time felt unreal and walking into their experience centre immediately being greeted with the current Williams livery by the entrance with bushes outside cut into the shape of a pit crew! The day began with getting our free goody bags and a company introduction talk, followed by a couple of icebreakers. 

Our icebreakers resulted in us randomly being put into groups for our marketing projects. This project would occupy us for most of the week making a fictional launch event for 2026, designing our own livery, developing a business and marketing proposal, organising the venue and entertainment, and multiple other details, with a limited budget. I found this project particularly engaging, immediately having to communicate, problem-solve, and work together with complete strangers that I walked into the room with a mere 20 minutes prior, with the F1 Movie soundtrack motivating us in the background. I spent my evenings refining our presentation, which developed my focus and discipline, ready to present to Lucy Goodman, the Early Careers Manager, at the end of the week.

We then had our top secret factory tour, walking past the FW16 (Williams Car for the 1994 Formula 1 Championships) at the entrance, where we watched multiple teams of mechanics in the race bays working on chassis for the cars of both Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon for the Belgium Grand Prix that weekend. Insane!

The rest of the afternoon consisted of several talks from employee ambassadors, such as Amanda Martins, the Head of Sustainability, Justin Vasiljevic, a Composite Design Engineer, and Naomi James, who is on the Williams Marketing and Communications Graduate Scheme, working mainly on Paddock Club events. This was particularly insightful, getting to know someone so early on in their career, giving us a refreshing side of F1, working on something completely different to engineering the car itself.

One of the most immersive experiences of the week was participating in a mission control simulation, where we, in pairs, acted as race strategists, in the same ‘mission control room’ that race engineers make their split second decisions during race weekends, analysing a wide range of data points. Acting as a race strategist offered such a powerful insight into the pressurised situations the highest level of motorsport can put you into. The most rewarding part was that my partner and I were able to keep cool heads in wet conditions, make decisions on tyre compounds and power unit modes, helping Logan Sargeant finish P5 in the (simulated) Bahrain Grand Prix.

To finish Day 1, we went down to their heritage museum, where there were numerous FW models from all the years of Williams’ time in F1. This was mesmerising, seeing the evolution of a team with such a rich legacy (oh, and someone saw Alex Albon that day around HQ).

Day 2 began with more engaging and interesting talks with employees from different departments of the company. We met with Paul Williams, Chief Race Engineer with so much experience that the 2025 Belgium GP was his 299th race on the pit wall. Kat Newberry, a Chief Composite Engineer, and Aaliyah Ascroft, a Graduate Design Engineer, brought with them some of their old CAD designs and materials. We then met with someone from the Finance team, explaining further the challenges we see in the news about each team’s cost cap and budgeting to prioritise long-term success. Later on that day, we had another top secret tour of their wind tunnel and model shop from Mark Peers, the Lead Wind Tunnel Technician. We were then given the opportunity to build our own steering wheel with 3D printed parts, screwing them all in place to build something we got to take away as a keepsake.

Day 3 began with more fascinating talks, starting with Daniel Picariello, Head of Direct Procurement, where he has previously worked at Haas and Mercedes F1 teams. Michael Leonard then took us on yet another top secret tour of their DIL (Driver-In-Loop) simulator, showing us how software feedback and human skill work together to refine performance. Fun fact for anyone who has watched the F1 movie: Brad Pitt and Damson Idris filmed a lot of their scenes at Williams HQ. When we arrived, Harrison Scott, one of Williams’ test drivers, was driving in the simulator (Alex Albon was in the DIL simulator on Monday that week).

Following on, we continued back to the factory again, where the race bays were now empty, having gained knowledge that the cars had already been transported to Spa Francorchamps for the Belgian Grand Prix race weekend. Ed Ray and Rob Clayton, two Williams Mechanics, showed us around the race bays. It felt so surreal talking with them, hearing their stories doing pit stops, and working closely with the drivers. They then guided us to their top secret pit stop practice area, where we got to hold an 18kg medium tyre (imagine putting them on a car in 2.5 seconds!)

To finish off, in the afternoon, we had a small STEM challenge to really think like engineers, where, in pairs, we had to create the best nose cone that would be put through a simulator. The best material to make them out of was actually aluminium foil and chicken wire to give it structure. But the highlight of that day was seeing the legend himself, James Vowles, the Team Principal of Williams, with Pat Fry, the Chief Technical Officer, beside him in conversation! What a great way to end the day!

Then came the final day of the work experience programme, the day I dreaded. I didn’t want it to end! The morning began with a quick visit to the merchandise store downstairs, where, of course, I couldn’t leave without getting myself a t-shirt. We then had our final talk from Lucinda Uden, an Early Careers Recruiter, who, alongside Lucy Goodman, watched every single application video they received. My marketing group then presented our mock-up launch event in front of our peers, where I was particularly proud of our event concept and outcome as we made it as engaging for the fans as we could. We put ourselves in the shoes of attendees, thinking about what we would want to have as entertainment - having The 1975 and The Arctic Monkeys perform took up quite a bit of the budget (oops). We were then extremely lucky enough to have a go on their Esports simulators on five different tracks, where full damage mode was on and extreme wet conditions in Monaco resulted in a pile up at turn 1. This was an extremely fun way to end the week, having fun and racing with all your friends and I don’t think any of us actually took the racing line, especially in Australia, where we cut nearly every corner.

The Williams Work Experience Programme gave me a deeper understanding of the industry and everything that goes into those two cars they put onto the track during each race weekend. There’s no harm in filming a quick, short video and sending it in. Is it worth it? YES 100%! I would’ve never thought I would end up at Grove, Williams HQ, during my summer, learning so much that I’ll take forward with me into my career. My week with Williams helped further my determination to make my dream of working in motorsport a reality, and showed me that a career in motorsport isn't just about your knowledge of engineering, requiring a well-rounded skill set, with strong teamwork, resilience, and communication skills in particular. A massive thank you to Williams Racing for giving me one of the best weeks of my life so early on in my career.'

​If you are interested in their work experience placements, find more information on their website here.

Charlene A, L6T​​​

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