Not just for drivers: Singaporeans explore F1 job opportunities off the track

SINGAPORE: Mr Gautham Ramesh is one Singaporean living the Formula 1 dream.

When he was just 11 – during the era of renowned drivers Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen – he was fascinated by the F1 races that he watched on cable television.

He had a fleeting daydream of squeezing into one of the highly coveted spots behind the wheel.

“But I was too old, and too tall, to be a driver,” laughed the 1.88m tall Mr Gautham.

So, the next best thing would be becoming a race engineer, he said.

He read all the motorsport magazines he could find, researched job requirements, and realised mechanical and aeronautical engineering would be the paths he needed to take.

He enrolled in an engineering degree programme at the National University of Singapore, and joined automotive clubs and competitions where he designed, built, tested and raced formula style race cars.

He then furthered his master’s studies in aeronautics at the Imperial College London in Britain in 2011. There, he tried to get noticed by racing firms.

“I knew I had to go to the United Kingdom, because predominantly (most) teams are based there. A lot of people working in F1 are British engineers. Once they see a resume from (British universities), even if it's from a Singaporean, they'll at least give a chance to interview,” he said.

“So, I started emailing every F1 team, any technical director. Surprisingly, a lot of people responded.”

After doing his thesis project with the Williams Racing team for four months, he graduated and took a job with the now-defunct Marussia team as a junior aerodynamicist.

Since then, he has worked as an engineer across four different F1 teams, including Lotus – now known as Alpine – and Toro Rosso.

In 2017, he moved back to Singapore for his family.