On Monday 23rd February, I was invited to an evening of F1 hosted at Highgate School and presented by James Allen. Special guests for the evening were famous F1 commentator Murray Walker OBE, who was a former pupil at the school, and local resident Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner OBE. The event was to raise funds for education scholarships to help exceptional pupils who would benefit from private education but could not afford it.
Before the evening began I was offered the chance to meet with all three. We had a very interesting discussion about life in motorsport and I was able to get some great tips from them. I asked them for advice on winning sponsors. Murray Walker said I should be pushy and persistent. Christian Horner said that writing letters generally don’t work and that the best way is for family and friends to help you make contacts to get your foot in the door.
The evening involved James interviewing Christian and Murray about their careers. It was a real honour to see Murray Walker’s amazing energy and passion for motorsport. Christian Horner’s career was also very interesting where he explained why he decided to move on from being a racing driver and get involved in management.
The show was very entertaining, interesting and quite funny at times.
When the time came for questions I asked “being a racing driver myself and aiming to study engineering, how do you think being a qualified engineer and a racing driver complement each other?”
They explained that understanding engineering as a racing driver improves how well you can setup and develop the cars. They mentioned several drivers who had studied engineering too, like Nico Rosberg.
I had a great time. It was great to meet Murray, James and Christian and get the very valuable insights from them especially the very wise and witty Murray Walker.
2015, Christian Horner, Events, F1, Formula 1, James Allen, Motorsport, Murray Walker, Red Bull Racing
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