As for the team, we are lucky at Carlin to have a great selection of people. From Formula BMW up to World Series we have some very talented and hard working individuals. Many of them have been with us for quite a long time, which I think is testament to the camaraderie and sense of team work.
We have some very skilled engineers and mechanics, many of which have climbing the ranks within the different Carlin teams. We also have some very experienced people within the team, who have worked in a range of different championships before, including
F1.
Formula BMW is where we begin the assessment and development of a driver and it allows us to select the best drivers available and take them into the upper formulas. Sam Bird is a great example of this. Sam spent his first year in Formula racing with us, in Formula BMW UK in 2004. Since then he has completed another year in F
BMW, and Formula Renault, but when the time came to make the move up to F3, he returned to Carlin.
Running cars in five championships mean we can take drivers from the lowest formulas right up to an F1 drive or test drive. Working with a potential F1 star of the future gives the Carlin teams a buzz that is actually tangible. But in many ways, I think it is just as rewarding running them in the early stages of their career than it is when they reach F1. To see a young driver run the perfect qualifying lap, take pole and win the first race of the year is incredibly emotional. Jamie Green did that for us in F3 and Ollie Oakes did the same at the first FBMW round last year.
This year in FBMW, we have signed a couple of drivers just starting off in Formula racing and at the other end of the scale, we have Mikhail Aleshin and
Sebastian Vettel in World Series. I’m as happy to be at a FBMW or an F3 race as I am to be in Monaco for the F1 support but the difference is we expect our experienced drivers to win. When the youngsters do it, it’s an even bigger thrill.
