It’s that time of year again when all the big teams and manufacturers start looking for their future superstars. Recruitment has begun for motorsport internships for 2023 and National Motorsport Academy students already have an edge over the competition. The majority of the internships require you to be working towards your degree. For instance, Mercedes-AMG stipulate that you must have already completed 2 years of university study when you start the internship, with at least one year remaining. This means for most students you’ll be taking a year out of your studies to complete your internship. Not so for NMA students! Because of our earn-as-you-learn model, our students can carry on their degree at the same time as their internship. For the most part, our students, despite working full time, can still complete their degree in 3 years.
Who's offering motorsport internships in 2023?
So far, two major players have announced their internships for 2023. Mercedes-AMG and Williams Racing have both listed multiple industrial placements on their website. Here’s our run down of the first internships to be announced –
Motorsport Engineering Placements:
MERCEDES-AMG
Car Build Industrial Placement (Ref REQ-220568)
“Working within the highest level of motorsport as a key member of our Car Build team, you will directly support our process development activities, Quality Engineering improvements and be involved in all hands-on elements of the car build. This role will be varied and includes the CAD design of off-car components such as special tooling/packaging and assisting with our continuous improvement as we develop engineering functions within Operations. Our intent is to provide you with a personalised experience to help support your university placement, connecting theory to practice. Becoming the Car Build placement will give you a wide variety of experience in all the various elements of Build and you will become an integral part of our team with tasks which actively contribute to our team’s success.”
Aerodynamics Industrial Placement (Ref REQ-220565)
“You have a passion for aerodynamics and are excited about the opportunity to apply your skills to stimulating projects.
Your commitment and diligence have yielded good university results and you have developed a good appreciation of the basics of aerodynamics or CFD.
With a broad overview of your subject and an open and honest communication style, you relish collaborating in a team setting and enjoy discussing technical concepts. You are equally comfortable working on your own, applying your reflective nature, interpretive skills, attention to detail and dependable judgment to understand complicated engineering problems then propose and evaluate viable solutions in a timely fashion.”
Race Team Industrial Placement (Ref REQ-220575) x2
“We have two exciting opportunities for a current university student to join either the Race Engineering or Race Strategy Team on an Industrial Placement. The destination will be an outcome of the assessment and selection process.
The successful candidates will work as part of the race team running support systems and providing analysis of data for both race and test events. Outside of these events the successful candidates will contribute towards development and automation of tools used within the race team.
Key Accountabilities (Duties):
Provide race and test support, factory based, for all events during the year.
Assist with pre- and post-event analysis tasks for each event covering data and competitor information.
Run and monitor a range of software systems during race and test events, including input parameterisation.
Assist with live analysis and support during free-practice, qualifying and races.
Carry out ad-hoc tasks, for example investigating trends in data or opponent behaviour.
Develop and automate tools and analyse routines in Python and/or JavaScript.”
There are also internships and placements available in VDG and Performance & Simulation, Experimental Aerodynamics, Data Quality and Design & Process. Head over to the Mercedes-AMG F1 careers page.
WILLIAMS RACING
Williams are another big team 0ffering industrial placements in 2023.
Aero Test Facilities Industrial Placement
“This factory-based role will support our Aero Test Facilities department with carrying out Wind Tunnel Tests in an effective and efficient manner, ensuring the tests are carried out to the highest standard.
Core competencies:
When shortlisting student placement applications for the Industrial Placement within our Aerodynamic Test Facility team, we look for relevant courses at university in subjects such as Mechanical, Automotive, Electrical and Mechatronics.
Students will have a minimum of two years’ experience at University before the placement starts. It is also essential that you should return to your course for a minimum of one year following completion of the placement. We are unable to accept applications from students in their final year of their university studies/candidates who are not currently studying at university.”
Vehicle Simulation Industrial Placement
“This factory-based role will support the Performance Simulation team in the understanding and optimisation of vehicle lap time performance, including the development of simulation and correlation toolset.
Core competencies:
When shortlisting student placement applications for Performance Simulation we look for relevant subjects at University in subjects such as Engineering, Physics, Applied Mathematics or a similar related subject.
Students will have a minimum of two years’ experience at University before the placement starts. It is also essential that you should return to your course for a minimum of one year following completion of the placement. We are unable to accept applications from students in their final year of their university studies/candidates who are not currently studying at university.”
Systems Engineering Industrial Placement
“The Systems Engineering department is involved with the installation and running of all the electrical/electronic and control systems on the race car. You will contribute to the development of data processing applications to deliver agreed functionality with the minimum of supervision and assist in the running of the data processing system to ensure data is available in a timely fashion whenever the car is running on the track.
You will be required to work on race weekends to run the data processing systems used to analyse vehicle performance.
Core competencies:
When shortlisting student placement applications for Systems Engineering, we look for relevant subjects at university such as Automotive Engineering, Electronics, Software, Physics, Mathematics or a similar related subject.
Vehicle Performance Industrial Placement
“This factory-based role will support our Vehicle Performance department with performance and competitor analysis in the preparation for, and execution of each trackside event from the race operations room.
When shortlisting student placement applications for Vehicle Performance – Industrial Placement we look for relevant subjects at University in subjects such as Mechanical, Automotive, Aerospace, Aeronautical or General Engineering. Mathematics or Physics or a similar related subject.
Core competencies:
An interest/background in race engineering, race operations, race strategy, tyres or performance analysis.
Some experience in data analysis / software engineering in Excel, VBA, MATLAB or .NET would be advantageous but not required.
Some form of motorsport exposure such as Karting, Formula Student, previous work experience at an F1/F2/F3 team would be beneficial but again not required.
Must be available to support grand prix weekends.
Williams Racing currently has 7 motorsport internships available for 2023. Head over to their careers page for more details.
RED BULL RACING
Red Bull approach internships slightly differently. Applications are made via LinkedIn so it’s never been more important to get your LinkedIn profile up to date!
They are currently advertising motorsport internships for 2023 and 2024 in the following areas:
· Vehicle Dynamics
· Driver Academy
· Race Strategy
· Aerodynamics
· IT
· Vehicle Design
· Finance
· R&D Test
· Electronics
Motorsport Business Internships for 2023
In 2023, Mercedes-AMG F1 team have by far the highest number of motorsport internships available for business students. But before you read on, don’t forget to set job alerts on LinkedIn as not all internship programmes have officially opened for applications. For example, Red Bull Racing are currently only advertising an industrial placement in Finance, yet throughout last year took on interns in general marketing, fan engagement, social media and hospitality and events. Their internship programme will officially launch at the beginning of October.
Finance Industrial Placement (Ref REQ-220579)
“Within this Industrial Placement, you will help to develop and maintain processes that will support us in becoming a world class Finance function.
You will contribute to:
Process improvements to increase efficiency, effectiveness and compliance
Finance KPI’s
Ensuring vendor accounts are accurate through timely payments, and invoice processing/query resolution with internal and external parties
Supporting the forecasting process
Ad hoc duties such as journal postings, analysis & management reporting”
Legal Industrial Placement (Ref REQ-220571)
Under the supervision of the members of the Legal Team, pick up legal and administrative tasks to increase overall capacity and the assist the smooth functioning of the Legal Team. In particular:
- confidentiality agreements;
queries and negotiations relating to standard purchasing terms and conditions;
academic collaboration agreements;
travel-related agreements;
consultancy agreements;
brand protection matters;
compliance matters (including data protection);
research in topical areas and summarising the same in an easily digestible format;
developing educational legal resources for the business;
assisting with the administration, maintenance and development of the Legal Team precedent contracts and other related documentation;
proof-reading; and
detecting opportunities for process improvement and innovation.
Candidate Profile
As a minimum, the successful candidate must be studying towards a law degree or PgDL in law or recently graduated. When shortlisting applications, we are typically looking for relevant university subjects such as Commercial Law.
Marketing Operations Industrial Placement (Ref REQ-220581)
Under the supervision of the members of the Marketing Operations Dept, assist the Partnerships, Hospitality, Event, Merchandise and Clothing teams with tasks to assist in the efficient organisation and smooth functioning of operations related to the team and Partners. In particular:
Support Marketing Operations functions across Formula One with the development of marketing material including brochures, toolkits and key documents for Partner and internal use, ensuring they are complete and kept up to date.
Support Partnership Management teams with planning and implementation of marketing activations.
Support the Hospitality & Event teams with the planning, organisation and implementation of events and guest programmes
Support the Partnership and Hospitality teams to capture, track, document and report on the delivery of activations and contractual entitlements
Organisation and management of Dept. operational assets and gifts, managing stock control and reordering to maintain operational efficiency with minimal waste
Work with senior members of the Marketing Operations team to implement and manage processes that contribute to the efficient working practices of the team
Candidate Profile
The following skills are required by the successful candidate:
Experience working in an office environment
Good working knowledge of Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
Interest in sports marketing with a history that shows an education or extracurricular activities that align with the experience required
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Business, Marketing and/or Events experience.
Able to work an organised way being able to multi-task and prioritise work in a fast-paced, busy office environment
Ability to work at all levels within an organisation and balance strategic administrative roles with a practical hands-on work.
Ability to build good internal and external relationships and to be a team player
A proven ability to work effectively as part of a team who enjoys working in a high achieving and yet demanding environment.
Securing a Motorsport Internship for 2023
Who wouldn’t want the opportunity to gain work experience with a top F1 team? Whether it’s F1, with an automotive manufacturer or parts supplier, competition is fierce for any motorsport internship. So who has the best chance of success? Any business will want to see your passion for the job at hand. They will also want to see that you have gone above and beyond to gain as much experience as possible. Whether it’s part-time work at a race track, running your own blog, participating in track days, the best way to get a motorsport internship is to totally immerse yourself in the industry.
So, if you’re looking for a motorsport internship in 2023, don’t stop learning, reading, networking, and most of all, don’t stop trying!
