Nearly every Formula 1 squad has a full-sized junior team and academy programme right now, going down to go-karting in order to find the next great driving prospect. Off-track, a similar arms race is ramping up with burgeoning graduate programmes and apprenticeship schemes as teams look to replenish their staff pool with future talent.
Beating the other 10 teams to the brightest, most passionate young mechanics and engineers is one aim. The other is to replenish the crew travelling to most, if not all, of F1's demanding 24-race schedule before family life, or the desire for a change of pace or position, drives some of them back to a factory-based role or to a different business altogether.
The Aston Martin squad has joined forces with its lubricant partner Valvoline to support its Aspiring Mechanics Programme, which aims to provide a five-year $1m purse to support an estimated 10,000 aspiring mechanics through scholarships and training. Valvoline is involved because the hunt for the next generation of mechanics isn't limited to the F1 bubble, with the company estimating the global automotive industry is set to face a projected shortage of 4.3 million skilled workers by 2030.
The Aston Martin squad has joined forces with its lubricant partner Valvoline to support its Aspiring Mechanics Programme, which aims to provide a five-year $1m purse to support an estimated 10,000 aspiring mechanics through scholarships and training. Valvoline is involved because the hunt for the next generation of mechanics isn't limited to the F1 bubble, with the company estimating the global automotive industry is set to face a projected shortage of 4.3 million skilled workers by 2030.
The kick-off for its worldwide programme took place during the Mexico Grand Prix week, with Aston Martin team members meeting with students of the city's Escuela Mexicana de Electricidad, eight of which were awarded scholarships.
Motorsport.com was in the room and saw how the 50-odd student corps was hanging onto Aston Martin team member Miguel Faisca's every word as he explained the demands and allure of working in Formula 1. Students got hands-on with technical drawings and pieces of Aston Martin's F1 car, before peppering Faisca with questions. The eight scholarship winners, two of which were female, were then invited for a paddock and garage tour on Friday at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
"This is as good as it gets, so if this doesn't inspire them then nothing will," joked Andy Stevenson, Aston's long-time sporting manager. Stevenson started his 35-year stint in F1 as a mechanic, entering the championship together with Jordan in 1991 after being the late Irishman's mechanic back in F3.
Motorsport.com was in the room and saw how the 50-odd student corps was hanging onto Aston Martin team member Miguel Faisca's every word as he explained the demands and allure of working in Formula 1. Students got hands-on with technical drawings and pieces of Aston Martin's F1 car, before peppering Faisca with questions. The eight scholarship winners, two of which were female, were then invited for a paddock and garage tour on Friday at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
"This is as good as it gets, so if this doesn't inspire them then nothing will," joked Andy Stevenson, Aston's long-time sporting manager. Stevenson started his 35-year stint in F1 as a mechanic, entering the championship together with Jordan in 1991 after being the late Irishman's mechanic back in F3.
"I was really lucky to get involved in this sport, because this has given me a huge amount of enjoyment and this is all through being a mechanic. It's carved my life out for me, and [I've] met so many interesting people, and been to some really cool places. This is a phenomenal opportunity for these students. [I can't imagine] if I'd had that opportunity when I was a kid, instead of trying to climb under fences at Thruxton to watch someone drive an F3 car on a rainy day..."
Despite being an F1 lifer, Stevenson is not one to sugarcoat the tough life of an F1 mechanic - 24 races plus testing, long hours, high pressure and extensive economy class travel. That means finding the right people with the right passion is important.
"To be a Formula 1 mechanic is a lot of incredibly hard work," he acknowledged. "You've got to have an extreme amount of dedication, because there are a lot of sacrifices that you have to make. But the rewards are phenomenal. Even now, every single race I just get so much enjoyment and satisfaction out of what we do."
An additional hurdle is F1's cost cap, which means teams don't have unlimited resources to pour directly into staff salaries. It also compels organisations to start reaching out to talents before they even graduate to make sure they beat the competition to the best young starters on the job market, and then blood them in outside F1.
An additional hurdle is F1's cost cap, which means teams don't have unlimited resources to pour directly into staff salaries. It also compels organisations to start reaching out to talents before they even graduate to make sure they beat the competition to the best young starters on the job market, and then blood them in outside F1.
"The cost cap has tied our hands a little bit with bringing in lots of staff, because we've got to put them in the cap straight away," Stevenson added. "We have a programme at Silverstone that we call F1 Evolution, which is where we run our older cars.
"We very much look to hire the younger people there so that we can train them outside of the cap, and when they're ready we can bring them into the team. It also gives us another area people can go when they get older and don't want to do all the races. They can go back, share their experience and help train up new people that we're bringing in."
