At Atlassian Williams Racing, composite jobs are about more than just designing parts. In our F1 composite jobs you truly help to drive our success. Around 80% of an F1 car is made up of composite materials, and each of these parts are crucial to making the car lighter, faster, and more efficient on race day. This is a role where your work can make real impact toward improved performance on the track, getting us closer to our goal of winning multiple championships.
To find out more about this career path, we sat down with Justin Vasiljevic, a composite design engineer. Having followed his dreams of working in Formula 1, his journey so far has taken him from university in New Zealand all the way to our HQ in Grove. Justin shared how composite jobs help to create our winning formula as well as what it takes to succeed in this role.
Life as a composite engineer at Atlassian Williams Racing
Our composite team members engineer excellence day in and day out. We don’t settle for second best, and by pushing for new and innovative ways to raise the bar for performance in their work, composite engineers like Justin embody our value of excellence in all that they do.
From day-to-day responsibilities, to how composites contribute to reaching podiums, Justin talked us through his role:
“I joined Williams in January 2022 - a dream job to get straight out of university. Williams was really attractive to me because it was an organisation that was changing, moving forward, and on the rise.
I work in the steering suspension and brakes department, specifically looking after the front brake ducts. I take what the aerodynamicists come up with, what sort of goals they want to achieve from the aerodynamic and aerothermal concept they have, and turn those into real parts.
To make the car faster, the easiest thing I can do is make things as light as possible. There's a direct relationship between the mass of a component and how much energy it requires to move. So, the less weight there is, the less energy, so it can accelerate quicker - basic physics.
The biggest motivation to come to work every day is just knowing where we can be. Every day, in my role, I see opportunities for improvement and growth. So being able to realise those and see how that impacts performance on the track is really exciting.”
Top skills needed in F1 composite jobs
To hit the heights in an F1 composite job, you’ll need a healthy blend of technical know-how and soft skills. Here’s a quick look at some of the most important skills you’ll need to develop for success in this exciting role:
- Knowledge of composite materials - You’ll need to know your carbon fibres from your resins and have a keen understanding of how they behave under stress to help create the parts we need to rev up the performance.
- Advanced manufacturing techniques - From resin infusion to autoclave curing, understanding how to manufacture components while maintaining the highest standards will give you the edge.
- Simulation software - An understanding of simulation tools and Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software is essential for testing designs virtually to make sure they’re up to scratch before being physically produced.
- Problem-solving - F1 composite jobs are fast-paced and full of challenges. Being able to think outside the box and come up with creative ways to take performance to the next level is key.
- Teamwork - We win as a team at Atlassian Williams Racing. F1 is a team sport, and you’ll need to be able to collaborate across departments to make sure all components are at their peak. Our teams are stronger together and succeed when they work as one.
Atlassian Williams Racing is also a place where you can build new skills. Our teams harness the power of new ideas and we’re always looking for people who are hungry to learn. Justin went on to mention the development opportunities on offer. From our early careers programmes to on-the-job training, we provide everything you need to excel in our team:
“I think Williams is a great place to grow. There are so many different areas of opportunity to improve as an individual because we're going through a lot of transformation and improvement, both as an organisation operationally and also technically in our journey to be back on top of the grid.”
Why explore composite jobs in Formula 1?
A composite job at Atlassian Williams Racing is a chance to shape the future of one of the most ambitious and exciting teams in Formula 1. Seeing your work come to life on the track is incredibly rewarding, and playing a part in our bid to return to the top by improving car performance is an opportunity like no other.
F1 is all about those memorable moments on the track. Justin shared some of his highlights of working in Formula 1, as well as what makes Atlassian Williams Racing a special place to build a composites career.
“At the start of the year I was lucky enough to go to Bahrain for preseason testing, and that has been my most memorable experience: to see what it’s like at track, the pressures the mechanics and engineers are under, and how the work I do as a designer affects people at track.
Everyone says that the best thing about working at Williams is the people, and they’re right - the people are really nice. And everyone wants to work together as one team to move forward and do a good job. I think that’s the biggest thing - we all feel like we are moving in the same direction together, and even if there are a few bumps along the way we all know where we are going.”
Join the team at Atlassian Williams Racing
If you want to follow in Justin’s footsteps, you can find your place in our composites team. To help create our winning formula, you’ll need a blend of technical and personal skills as well as a love for Formula 1. If you think you’ve got what it takes, we’d love to hear from you.
Start your journey and explore our latest composite jobs today or join our talent community to stay up to date.
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