Auto Racing: Formula One engineer, Motorsports, engineering

Question
Hey Adam :)

I am currently a 1st year engineer doing mechanical engineering and I have a strong desire to become an engineer in a Formula One team.  Having said that though, I am finding the topic of dynamics wayyyy too hard, and I was considering changing to materials engineering.

What I was wondering is, is there any place for material engineers in Formula One?  Or do they only want mechanical engineers?  If the teams do want material engineers, then what are the chances of making it into a team?

Also, I am under the impression that Formula One teams only employ the best of the best engineers with the best grades and lots of experience.  Is this true?  Becasue I'm not exactly the top of the class :P
Do any teams to your knowledge have a "young engineers" program of some sort where I can get a leg-up into the team (not unlike Red Bull's young drivers program)?

Sorry for all the questions, any help is appreciated!


Cheers,
Aaron

Answer
Thanks for your question Aaron,

You are thinking through the maion issues, which is great. I think F1 probably needs more materials engineers than mechanical engineers, it has been a major growth emphasis this past 15 years. However, remember that there are only 10 teams (11-13 in 2010-13), and so the opportunities will always be very restricted in F1, and they may want to draw from a pool of engineers who have been working in the field previously (e.g. in other racing categories or aerospace/car etc) first. The good news are that in terms of engineering, a number of colleges do now have motorsport specific courses (4 listed below but there are more) which would be the best option I think for you. You can also look at the vacancy listings of F1 teams to see the sorts of skills thaey are looking for (composites, fabrication, materials management etc).

Other information:

http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sed/sedcourse/ug/mechanical/mspteng

http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/sas/postgraduatestudy/taughtcourses/motorsportenginee...

http://www.kingston.ac.uk/motorsports/

http://tech.brookes.ac.uk/teaching/ug/motorsport-and-automotive-engineering/beng...

It won't hurt to write to the teams either to ask about their engineering graduate programmes, which some may have. I do not know if you are UK-based, many of teh F1 teams are UK-based (Renault, Williams, Brawn, Force India) and you shopuld expect a reply from each.

I hope this helps you Aaron, good luck with your career,
Adam