Ewan Mehra is currently studying Business Management at the University of Leicester. He is also the Team Manager of the University of Leicester’s Formula Student team. Read about Ewan’s experience and his hopes for the future:
My name is Ewan and I am currently the Team Manager of the University of Leicester’s Formula Student team, University of Leicester Racing. I am also a first-year student of Business Management at the University. My role as Team Manager consists of running the commercial side of the team, overseeing the teams’ finance, business development as well as sourcing sponsorship for the team, which is crucial with our limited budget. I also manage our social media pages which is the first port of call for prospective members of the team and sponsors.
I was originally attracted to Formula Student when looking at university’s in sixth form and noticed many had Formula Student teams. After looking into it more on the FS website I realised it was certainly something I wanted to join when I got to university however I was worried that not coming from an engineering background would put me at a disadvantage, although, after attending the FS open day a month or so after starting at UoL I realised speaking to the current team that they were really interested in having a business lead for the team.
My interest in motorsport, and Formula 1 especially, started from a young age, mostly my dad’s influence who also has a keen interest. My earliest memory is Mark Webber spinning at the start of the British Grand Prix in 2008, don’t ask why it’s just stuck! I have been lucky enough to attend Grand Prix in person (Silverstone, Monaco, and Spa) which has only fuelled my interest. Truth be told I have only really seen a career in Formula 1 viable in the last couple of years, I’d always assumed you had to be an engineer of some sort to even have a glimpse. However, as I did more research, I realised there are in fact many other roles in F1 from catering to cleaning, marketing and logistics. Personally, the area that excites me most is the team management side of the sport, the sense of responsibility as well as leading a team to success excites me. However, the marketing side of the sport also has a lot of opportunities which are really interesting.
It’s clear that the current Covid-19 situation has ruined a lot of people’s plans for this year and more. Personally, for me its resulted in the Formula Student competition, due to take place at Silverstone, to be cancelled as well as exciting work experience within the marketing department for the British Touring car championship. Like all things, this bad situation will pass and things will get back to normal, it’s therefore key to keep your foot on the gas and don’t let Covid fog your ambitions.
Approach this current downtime with the view that an interviewer will ask you what you achieved during the lockdown, whether that be gaining virtual experience, completing an online course to expand your knowledge or even taking up cooking or exercise, anything that makes you stand out from your competitors. I hope to secure a placement within the motorsport sector, with the pragmatic view that I can always take a year out after my second year to gain valuable experience I have missed out on this summer.
I want to end offering some key words of advice from David Coulthard’s book “The Winning Formula”, which I would highly recommend to anyone wanting a career in Formula 1, or just seeking some inspiration. “Hard work is the foundation of any success and, without that basic quality, you will never truly succeed”. Formula 1 is a highly competitive business, competition for jobs is fierce. However, if you truly want it and apply yourself there is no ceiling to what you could achieve in your career in Formula 1.
You can follow along with Ewans’ journey here:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ewan-mehra-0800b6196/
University of Leicester Racing:
Facebook:http://facebook.com/uolracing
Instagram: http://instagram.com/uolracing
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UoLRacing
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