Old Burfordians excel in the F1 pit lane
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We were delighted to recently share news of Old Burfordian Alister Wright's career progression within F1 at Mercedes (read here). Having seen this, two of his contemporaries from the class of 2007 got in touch to share their stories working with fast cars!
Ed Hemsworth (2007-12 & 2013-15), after A-Levels at Burford, completed a Business Management Degree and found a job with Williams F1, working in the design office. He then left to take up a position with Red Bull Racing and now has a full-time, travelling role with them. He works closely with all departments trackside to ensure the operation and logistics of the car build run efficiently across race weekends.
Commenting on his current role, Ed said ‘My biggest challenge for 2023 is my new 'pit crew role' as jack man!' Meanwhile, his highlights to date have been winning The Constructors World Championship in 2022, working with what he describes as 'one of the most successful F1 cars in history' and winning in Monaco in 2022 which was ‘an unforgettable experience’.
Francis Breaks (2007-12), after GCSEs at Burford, embarked on a BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Motorsport Engineering at Banbury and Bicester College. He now works as a race team Composite Technician for Haas on driver Kevin Magnussen's car. Describing his current role, Francis said, ‘I build and repair all bodywork parts and floors trackside and I am part of the pitstop team putting the right tyre on […] I moved to Mercedes F1 in 2018, briefly working alongside my old schoolmate Alister Wright, but I wanted to be trackside, so I moved to Haas in 2021 to be part of their race team!'
It is remarkable that three Burford students who all started in 2007 have all gone on to work in such an exciting and competitive industry. Alister Wright had this to say:
'I regularly see Ed and Francis around the world and Burford School must hold a record that no other school in the world has, having three students from the same year group all in the pit lane for three different F1 teams at the same time!'
We will continue to follow all of their careers with interest!