You might not always see them on your TV screens, but Formula One marketing managers are key to the commercial success of their teams. Here, Elissa Middleton, Partner Manager at Marussia F1, explains how she landed her role and describes what it’s like to be a part of the world’s most famous circus.

Elissa looks after a guest at the 2011 Chinese GP.

Elissa, how did you land your marketing role in F1?

First, I studied public relations at Bournemouth University on a four-year course. I’d always wanted to work in a creative industry, which is why I took the PR route. Following university, I worked at a PR agency for a while. I had a dream to work in F1 because it always seemed glamorous and exciting and I wanted to travel around the world; I watched the races with my dad as I was growing up. I was fortunate enough that a role came up in my local paper for a position at Bridgestone Motorsport as a PR Assistant, and I got the job! That’s how my work in motorsport began, and I’ve been at Marussia for almost a year and a half now.

What’s it like being a fan and then making the transition into the world of F1?

It’s quite surreal. At the moment there’s 20 races a year; you watch them on TV and you see all the teams working away, and it’s something that a lot of people aspire to. Then one day you’re actually working there at the races and you’re one of those people on the TV – it’s a great feeling to be living your dream.

Do you travel to all of the races? What are your responsibilities over the race weekend?

My role is to look after the team sponsors, so my race attendance is dependent on the number of guests or the activities that we have organised for the weekend. Last year I went to about 15 races. There’s not really a typical race weekend. We’ll arrive at the circuit maybe on a Wednesday or Thursday depending on the schedule for that weekend. On a Thursday we might have driver appearances for sponsors and other events on or off the track, so it’s my job to make sure that the every event runs smoothly – having a good working relationship with the drivers helps with that. Throughout the weekend, you’ll be showing people round the garage and making sure they’re having a great time. We’ll have guests that have never been to a race before, so part of my responsibility is to let them see the car up close for the first time – it’s a really special experience for them and it’s a great feeling to be part of that. You have different guests from different countries all the time, so you have to be aware of all the different cultures as well. It’s a huge learning process and no weekend is ever the same.

A lot of people see Formula One as a man’s world – what’s it like to be a woman working in the sport?

Formula One is evolving and there are more and more females working in the sport – one of our engineers is female and she works on Charles Pic’s car. I think in all of the teams there seems to be more and more females that are taking on not just traditional roles – like marketing or PR – but also roles as engineers and mechanics. It doesn’t feel that unusual to be a female working in F1 anymore.

What would you say to encourage other young women to go for a role in Formula One?

I would say that you need to follow your dream. If you’re aspiring to work in F1, it’s not unachievable. You just have to make sure you have the right qualifications and that you’re passionate about the sport. When you visit employers, they should be able to see that enthusiasm and that drive: it will only be a benefit.

What’s been your most memorable moment with Marussia so far?

I think the British Grand Prix last year was very memorable. It was a home race – we’re an Anglo-Russian team based in Oxfordshire – so it was very busy and we had a large number of. We had lots of different activities taking place and we also had a team campsite at Stowe where fans could come along. We got the chance to interact with all the fans and it was really memorable. We’re a young team, so it was great to see all the support we have out there and it was nice for all the mechanics and the engineers to be able to see that strong support as well.

Are there any particular qualities someone needs to have in order to work in F1 marketing?

I think you need to be organised – there’s a lot of juggling to be done and it can be a bit of a challenge, but that’s part of the fun. You have to be really hard working because unfortunately we’re not there as guests at the races. I’d also say when you’re working with guests, even when you’re having a difficult or busy day it’s always important to make sure that you have a positive outlook, because you are a representative of the team at all times. You need to be personable and approachable because your job is about working with people.

@Marussia_F1Team will be recruiting new team members in 2012, so keep an eye out if want to work alongside Elissa and her colleagues.

Most Formula One fans can only dream of becoming a part of the circus, but for Marussia F1 aerodynamicist Nick Colam, that dream came true. Here, Nick explains how he did it and what it’s really like to be an F1 team member…

Without Nick, Timo Glock wouldn’t have much of a car to drive.

Nick, how did you become an aerodynamicist with Marussia?

 I’ve always been a fan of F1; my parents got me into it when I was very young and I can’t remember a time when I didn’t watch it. When I started thinking about what kind of job I wanted to do it was always up there, it was just a case of working how to get into it. I did a BA and M.Eng in Aerospace and Aerothermal Engineering and then after graduation I worked for Wirth Research as a CFD (computational fluid dynamics) engineer. I became part of Marussia in 2010.

 It wasn’t too strange making the transition from fan to team member. Race weekends are a different feeling now – you’re not just looking forward to the race, you’re following every detail and focusing solely on your particular team. But you still get that buzz of excitement.

What’s a typical day on the job?

We get a lot of data coming through overnight, so there’s a lot to go through in the morning. We look at the data and the airflow to see if we’ve made any gains, such as reducing drag or improving downforce. A lot of that will feed back into the design process; coming up with new ideas, developing on past ideas and trying to make the car quicker. We have a wind tunnel programme now, so once in a while we’ll go down there and get our hands dirty – it’s good fun. It’s quite a creative job as well: you get to use your imagination.

As an aerodynamicist, to what extent do you need to be aware of regulation changes?

Everyone has to be aware of them because that’s the essence of what we’re doing: trying to get the best out of the car within the restrictions that we’re given. Whenever there are any changes, or when you’re just starting in F1, you need to learn what the regulations are and think about how you can maximise the car and exploit any gaps.

How many aerodynamicists does Marussia have and what are their different responsibilities?

We have six aerodynamicists working on the car – we’re all involved in designing the internal and external elements. We’re responsible for improving downforce and reducing drag, but also for the cooling on the car and the gearbox. With the small number of people that we have, we all get to work on a lot of different areas of the car, rather than being focused entirely on just one component.

In terms of aerodynamics, how much does a car evolve over the course of the season?

We try and bring bits to the car every race because the car, in small or large detail, will probably change race-by-race. There are some tracks which are quite specific aerodynamically; for example, Monza is a low-drag circuit with quite a high top speed, so you need different components for that. Generally, the car will be quite different by the end of the season – most external parts will have changed.

Is the need for constant innovation the most difficult aspect of the job?

Yes, that pressure does make it quite difficult but that’s what we’re all here for: the sport. It’s not just a normal engineering job because it has that added competitive factor, which we all love. The pressure gives you that extra little buzz when you create a good new component.

What’s been the highlight of your time with Marussia so far?

The start of the season has been really good for the team. We’ve been here for a couple of years now and we knew this season would be tough – we turned up to the first race without having done any testing, but we’ve made big steps in performance and the feeling around the factory is very good. Everyone’s looking forward to the next few races – we want to come into work every day and continue that improvement.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to become an F1 aerodynamicist?

Education is important – choose the right A levels and get a good degree. Get a good grounding in terms of working with other people, and make sure you have an understanding of the different disciplines within engineering; as an aerodynamicist you can’t just think about what you want the air flow to do, you have to think about all the practicalities. Students should get involved in Formula Student: it’s a brilliant thing to do and it gives you a good basis of working with cars and with other people in the same kind of high-pressure environment.

Most importantly, you need to be passionate about the job – you’re there because you want to make the car quicker. If you enjoy where you’re working and who you’re working with, it makes your job a lot easier. There’s not many areas of engineering where you can think of something, design it, test it, get it on the car and fly it across the world in such a short space of time – it’s pretty amazing how quickly you can make things happen.

@Marussia_F1Team are currently looking for an experienced aerodynamicist to join the team and will be advertising a variety of new positions throughout the 2012 season.

Nobody hates Felipe Massa. When he stood on the podium at his home Grand Prix in 2008, choking back tears as confetti fell around him, even Lewis Hamilton supporters had a lump in their throat. And at Hungary 2009, the site of his lifeless helmet in a crumpled cockpit was nothing short of harrowing. This is a man who people have a lot of sympathy for.

A sacking wouldn't be Massa's first dramatic exit.

Frustration

The problem is that together with sympathy there was once a significant degree of respect towards Felipe; in its place now is uncertainty, anxiety and, increasingly, frustration.

The majority of spectators want him to do well but he just, quite plainly, isn’t. Many hoped that Massa would return to form at the season opener in Melbourne, but a poor qualifying result (16^th) and yet another messy collision may well have poured water over the last embers of optimism.

A friend of mine, a lifelong Ferrari fan, summed it up on Sunday: “Felipe has disappointed so much in the last few years. He used to be one of my favourite drivers, but now he’s just a liability.”

The atmosphere at Ferrari

It would be naïve to think that the same thoughts aren’t running through minds at the Scuderia; team principal Stefano Domenicali has a lot to prove this season, and Massa isn’t making him look any better. Luca di Montezemolo says that he’s not looking to take any heads just yet, but Ferrari have been performing below their expected standard since 2008. Something has to give.

Some used to think that Ferrari’s driver line-up was ideal for the team; they have a star performer in Fernando Alonso and an obedient wingman in Felipe Massa. This worked well for them in 2009, but no longer. Massa’s poor comparative pace to Alonso is increasingly conspicuous and he frequently robs the team of vital points where he should be collecting them.

A suitable replacement

All of this means  it’s quite likely that Felipe Massa will be dropped by mid-season, maybe even before the circus rolls into Europe in May. The deciding factor is whether Ferrari can find someone better to replace him.

Robert Kubica’s return is indefinite, and young prospects like Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastian Buemi are unappealing after rejection from Toro Rosso. Reserve driver Davide Rigon may step in temporarily, but he failed to set the world alight in GP2 in 2010 and had limited chances due to injury in 2011.

The juiciest prospects are the Sauber drivers, Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi. Perez put in a blistering performance at Albert Park, climbing from last place to 8^th in the race. Kobayashi is not only entertaining but has produced some solid results; he finished 12^th in the last two championships. Both have contracts with Sauber (who use a Ferarri engine) until the end of this season, but this is Formula One: a contract means nothing.

Regrettably, Felipe Massa could soon become well aware of that.

Following the sudden and tragic death of IndyCar champ Dan Wheldon at the weekend, drivers in all categories of racing are re-evaluating their lives. “I have had a long career,” reflected Indy racer Paul Tracy, “I’ve been racing 20 years now in Indy cars, and my wife said to me last night, ‘you have enough trophies and have enough money, do we need to do this anymore?’ That is the question mark I have to answer for myself.”

This week, many drivers will be asking themselves similar questions. Jody Scheckter’s plea to his son, Tomas, to quit Indy racing was a very public example of the more private emotions of drivers’ family and friends, whether their children be competing at the lowest level or at the very highest. There has not been a death in Formula One for seventeen years, but Sunday’s events were a harsh reminder that it could happen again, in a year’s time, five years’ time, or at the next race.

Barrichello has been in F1 since 1993

And yet, the drivers continue to pull on their helmets every Sunday without any apparent fear. Why, and how, do they do it? Why does Rubens Barrichello, who has been in the sport for eighteen years and has two young children, continue to race when the risk of death is so palpable (and his car so uncompetitive)? It is difficult for anyone who witnessed Felipe Massa’s harrowing crash at Hungary in 2009 to understand how the Ferrari driver summoned the courage, and the motivation, to return to racing only five months after his first son’s birth. To those who aren’t fans of Formula One, this is nothing but irresponsible.

But for those who race, there is a simple explanation, succinctly summarised by Michael Schumacher when explaining his return to F1 last year: “Driving the car was the moment I suddenly felt alive again.”

Schumacher’s words illustrate what those outside the sport do not understand: racing is a sporting addiction unlike any other. It would have to be, given the dangers involved. Many drivers talk about their compulsive desire to race, none more famously than three-time world champion Aytron Senna, who moments after witnessing Roland Ratzenberg’s fatal crash at Imola responded to Sid Watkins’ request that he finally retire with the simple words: “I can’t quit. It’s in my blood.”

The need to race is the first thing that separates a successful racing driver from a wannabe, but there has to be another element present: the ability to overcome fear. I was lucky enough to be invited to Sir Stirling Moss’ home last December for an interview about F1 safety, and he explained that racing drivers are better than others at putting things out of their mind. “It’s one of the ingredients you need,” he responded, “Otherwise, it would heighten the danger of driving. If you start thinking of something else then you wouldn’t be as good, or fast.” Moss explained that to be a successful racing driver in his era, you would have the ability to drive past a teammate’s crashed car and go on to do a fastest lap. This is an ability that ordinary people just don’t have, and this is why we can’t always understand why racers do what they do.

In the past, the risk would occasionally become too much for drivers like Sir Jackie Stewart, who admitted after retirement: “I was always afraid. When I left home I always used to pause at the end of the driveway and take a long look back. I was never sure I’d come home again.” But for today’s drivers that risk, although still very real, is nowhere near as high, and their overwhelming passion for racing becomes the overriding factor. It is this passion, not a greed for a $5 million prize as argued so repugnantly by papers like The Daily Mail, that led Dan Wheldon to race, and it is this passion which makes motor racing the greatest sport in the world.

Dan Wheldon, 1978 - 2011