I've worked in Formula One factories for over fifteen years. Here are some things that might genuinely surprise you.
I work in an F1 factory - not the paddock, or anything you'd see on television. Factory floor, shift work, that sort of thing. Fifteen years across multiple teams at different ends of the grid.
A few things people almost always get wrong:
1. The pressure isn't constant - it arrives in specific moments
Everyone assumes working in F1 means relentless, permanent pressure. Most days are surprisingly ordinary. The pressure arrives suddenly, without warning, and when it does it fills a room completely. I've been in those rooms. They're memorable. But they're not every day.
2. The factory and the paddock are completely different worlds
The glamour, the hospitality, the camera access - that's one version of F1. The factories making the cars are somewhere else entirely. Different atmosphere, different culture, different people. Some factory workers have never been to a race. Some don't particularly want to.
3. The people are nothing like you'd imagine
Highly skilled technical people working to extraordinary precision standards. Also, at certain teams, absolute chaos. I watched people climb on the tables and fights break out at my first day at a top team. The work being produced around them was exceptional. Nobody seemed to notice the contradiction.
4. Not all teams are the same
The different between working at a championship-winning team and a midfield one isn't just performance. It's culture, atmosphere, and what the place asks of you. Some places will take everything you have. Some are surprisingly relaxed. The sport contains multitudes that never appear on TV.
5. Getting in isn't as impossible as people think
Most people who work in F1 factories didn't come through the obvious graduate engineering route. Many got in through smaller suppliers, subcontractors, and apprenticeships. The side door rather than the front. The industry is smaller and more connected than it appears from the outside.
I've recently started writing about all of this anonymously - the factory side of F1 that nobody films. It's called Ghost Lap and it's on Substack. Link in my profile if anyone's interested. Not posting for self promotion purposes, more that I think a lot of people here will find it interesting. Happy to answer any questions here too.
Edited to add link as there is way more interest than I’d imagined - thanks all!! https://ghostlap.substack.com