Meet Harry Adams, an MSc Advanced Motorsport Engineering student at the National Motorsport Academy! Harry’s journey into motorsport is anything but conventional—starting in biotechnology before making the leap into motorsport engineering. Now, he’s living his dream, working at McLaren F1 and played his role in the team’s incredible achievement of becoming Formula 1 World Constructors’ Champions.
Over to you, Harry…

Hey Harry - tell us a bit about yourself!
Hi! I’m Harry Adams, 27 with a hairline going on 47, currently on Module 7 Race Car Applications of the MSc Advanced Motorsport Engineering.
I actually used to want to be a doctor! Aced my GCSEs but realised in college that it wasn’t for me and didn’t try, so failed my first year badly with two Ds and two Es. A summer of reflection and I pivoted towards the Computer Science route. I called around universities with a scattering of AS Levels and just one A Level – a D in Psychology! – and Aberystwyth would take me that year, which I thought was ideal rather than spend another year in college. Finished the course with a 2:1 and having done a year in industry was able to get a job with a local company, ABER Instruments, as a software engineer.
I grew up in a Formula One household, dad watched it regularly and I did if it was on. Then I hit teenage adolescence and obviously as something my Dad liked I had to hate it. My first race getting back into it was – sorry McLaren fans – Sochi 2021 with Lando’s unfortunate spin in the rain. I had two friends at my house, Pete and Darren, and the passion and energy in the room was just electric and I was taken straight back to those early races. I followed regularly from there, originally with no allegiances and just enjoying a good race, but this became following in Pete’s footsteps as a McLaren fan.
With that background I didn’t exactly have the burning passion a lot of people talk about – before the course I saw a car engine as a magic box that took petrol and air and made motion, and suspension was witchcraft. The passion came to me through two main events. First was the interview, where afterwards the interviewing manager took an hour out to show me around the MTC Boulevard with all the historic cars which I’d have been incredibly grateful for even if I had been unsuccessful. The second was driving home after my first time supporting an event as a dedicated agent rather than just observing to learn. It was gone midnight and all I could think was how incredible it felt to be part of a team all feeling tired and stressed but coming together to get that car on the grid and the best result we could. That’s a buzz I still feel now no matter the results.
You had quite a career change in 2022, moving from BioTechnology to Motorsport. What inspired this shift? Has there been any challenges?
The shift just came from seeing the job advert online. To be honest I initially applied as a bit of a joke – in my mind, everybody at a Formula One team had seven doctorates, could build an engine in their sleep, and were the best geniuses in their fields, no way were they going to accept me. At each phase of the process, I dared to think it might happen more and more, until eventually I was offered the job, and I think the joke had gone a bit far.
Truthfully the whole process has been recurring challenges. Leaving the old job was hard – ABER is an employee-owned company that truly felt like a family, and I’d have been happy to stay there for a long time, but this just became the opportunity I couldn’t pass up. My wife and I then had our honeymoon straight after, as it kept being delayed due to COVID, so we were sat by a pool with cocktails, me trying to search for houses and her applying for a whole bunch of jobs. I highly recommend it!
Then of course the job itself is challenging, but in the best way, learning a whole new set of working and tools, going from a small team of four & company of fifty or so to a massive global company with over a thousand. Every day is a fantastic challenge and I wouldn’t change it.

What does a typical day at the MTC look like for you?
My job in Racing Software Operations is divided into two main areas, race support and non-race weekends. Race support starts from the Monday before the race weekend, planning with everybody if we have new things being released or changes to procedures, and starting to do the setup for tools available at the factory with changes for the new location. The bulk starts in midweek when all of our equipment makes it to track and gets setup, where it becomes all hands on deck to set up everything we need running at track. Then throughout the weekend is actually where my job gets easier, as we are on hand in Mission Control to respond to any software problems that crop up, meaning there are some weekends where I don’t have to do anything!
The rest of the time is spent trying to improve how we operate and make things more streamlined and efficient. I don’t make the tools themselves, but I’ll work with the teams to ensure we have documentation and procedures in place so that if their tool goes wrong we can try and get it fixed quickly without needing to escalate it further. I also work on things like automating setup tasks to reduce workload and potential for error as well as improve our ability to watch and monitor everything we run to spot problems before they happen.
It’s a very desk based role but I enjoy pairing it with working in Mission Control and working the wide range of hours that come as part of racing around the globe.

What drew you to the MSc Advanced Motorsport Engineering Degree?
While it’s not a requirement to understand the car or specific data to be able to work in the software team – there are plenty of people who do who can help when needed – it is certainly beneficial to have a broader understanding of the work that goes on around the business and can make working in my role easier. I also quickly realised that I wanted to get more involved in areas of F1 beyond software, so learning as much as I could about engineering and motorsport would put me in an advantageous position to seize any opportunities that came my way.
NMA offered the opportunity to study fully remotely and at my own part-time pace, perfect for my situation as I’d be studying in my own time alongside full time work. Additionally, I was coming in from a non-mainstream pathway with far less mechanical & electrical engineering knowledge than usual. Recognising I would need more pre-study than usual I coordinated early on with the staff, all of whom have been able to explain the areas I’d need to brush up on before starting the module and have been available to help in this. I wouldn’t have got as far as I have without the excellent help to cover the basics outside the usual module learning.

What's been your favourite module so far?
All have been excellent, but my personal favourite so far is Module 4 – Engineering Management Practices. Sounds a bit dry but it’s really interesting to learn behind-the-scenes of running incredibly complicated businesses and planning the logistics of race events. Creating a hypothetical race team as part of it was good fun, as well.
I also enjoyed the particularly technical modules, Advanced Vehicle Dynamics and Race Car Applications, because it has taught me so many things I didn’t understand previously. As a software engineer I didn’t understand suspensions or tyre models or anything like that, but it’s all become understandable through the course!
How are you finding balancing your work and your studies?
I won’t lie to you – it’s been bloody hard. I work 40 hours a week in a full time job, but then have to do my course on top. It’s hard, you need to be ready going in, knowing the time you’ll have to put in. That said, if you can get a routine that works for you, then you’ll be absolutely fantastic.
Truthfully I don’t have a particular routine. I usually have a burst of inspiration when the module is brand new, and a second burst near the end. I won’t lie, I do struggle to put the head down and get work done. However, NMA are so flexible in the course that I always make it work.

How are you finding the tutor support?
All of the tutors have been fantastic. They’ve helped me in the modules, but they have also helped me with the background learning I have needed as a software engineer. I would not have got as far through this course without them!
Every tutor has offered Teams calls to chat about what I needed, and been able to talk about the knowledge I was missing, I struggled initially because I didn’t have those face to face meetings, but having calls with tutors filled in quickly and was able to cover the gaps in my knowledge.
How has the course helped your career so far?
One of the things I have worked on is a web tool for configuring our cars. Before the course I had to just accept whatever somebody told me and make what was in front of me. However, from learning the course, I was able to question the parameters put in front of me and confirm it was as expected.
In my current role most of the course hasn’t been directly relevant – but everything I have learned is broadly helpful for all aspects of the job! I’m not a race engineer, but I understand the things they are asking me to do, which I wouldn’t without this course.
My favourite example – one of our performance engineers sent me a data plot of car speed about an issue in our software. I was able to understand and interpret that information without bugging him and wasting his time to explain it, all thanks to my course with NMA.
Congratulations on playing your part in McLarens 2024 WCC Champions! How good does it feel to play your part in this historic occasion!
Thank you!!! I am so grateful to you and everyone at NMA for your gratitude. Truthfully, it’s still a bit mad in my head that we’ve managed it! No matter anything else, it has been absolutely fantastic to be a part of the team for this.
My first proper race on support was 2022 Brazil, where we had a double DNF, followed by our six pitstop race in Bahrain 2023. It started with some rough times for me, though I’ll forever be impressed by the people who stuck it through the much rougher times before that. It’s been fantastic to be part of the team for the quickfire turnaround and hope it continues for much longer. That said, the culture and workplace being built means I’ll be happy to be a part of the team even if it turns around again.
It’s definitely my proudest “Big” moment at McLaren, but it is one of many through the time I’ve been here. Getting to my first race supporting without supervision. Getting my first major piece of work over the line. My first social event with my team and colleagues. Taking every achievement and every proud moment keeps the good times ticking over.

Where do you see yourself in the future? How does your Master’s with NMA fit into your plans?
Hopefully still here! I’d love to move to a more trackside focused role, travelling with the circus all over. I love the idea of strategy to suit that, and that’s my long term goal, but until an opportunity comes my way, I’ll be giving 110% to our software team and making the best tools we can.
My Master’s does wonders to improve my wider understanding of the team and the sport. One of the modules is software focused, and that one I’m doing very well in, but the rest is all new information which is helping me process and understand everything going on in the manic chaos of F1. Not only that, it’ll put me in the best position to seize an opportunity that comes my way.
What advice would you give to someone looking to make a similar career change into motorsport?
My #1 piece of advice is that it does not at all matter if you know things about cars or engines or whatever – if you have the drive to get it done, you can! I wasn’t joking earlier – even now I couldn’t really tell you how an engine works. My current assignment is asking me to evaluate various suspension systems, and until now I was quite unaware there were multiple types, I thought it was all just springs. I came from a university not from Russell Group, from a non-motorsport job, and without an intimate knowledge of motorsport, and I’ve managed to make it work. You can too.
For actually applying – get something that stands out. 95% of applicants will be coming in with the same degree with the same grades. Extracurriculars and hobbies make you stand out. When I was interviewing students in my last job I wasn’t grabbed by grades and modules – my favourite to take to interview was the lady who built a homelab of servers to learn all about networking, servers, and the software involved. She showed her passion for what she did and that she was willing to do what she needed to learn. Find something interesting for you.

A big thank you to Harry for sharing his story with us!
You can stay up-to-date on his motorsport journey by following him on LinkedIn – Harry Adams