From Sports Day to Race Day, how Alex Hallam became inspired to work in F1

It was during one Sports Day at school that Alex Hallam realised which industry she wanted to work in. Thankfully for BWT Alpine Formula One Team, the sport Alex chose wasn’t high jump or the 100 metres - it was motor racing. The reality is that she actually missed her school’s Sports Day to attend the practice day of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

“I shouldn’t really say this, but I don’t think I’ll get into trouble now,” she says smiling. “But that day at Silverstone changed my life. All I wanted to do after that day was be a part of Formula One - I’d never been so fixated on something before - and I wanted to build racing cars. That was my goal.”

Alex went to college to study motorsport and met a former student who had graduated and joined Enstone. Inspired to follow in her footsteps, when they met a few years later they became firm friends. Having spent eight years at Alpine working in composites on the shop floor, today Alex is Deputy Cell Lead - Day Shift, which still involves layering up moulds while also having oversight over the job list for production.

She and her team work with sheets of carbon fibre to create parts which are then cured in one of the large ovens at Enstone under high pressure and heat to manufacture the incredibly strong, but lightweight, carbon fibre pieces you see on the car.

“The simplest way to explain it for someone who doesn’t understand the process is that it’s like working with glorified paper mâché,” says Alex. With so many parts to build - whether it's suspension, front and rear wings, chassis, or floor - the department, with between 100 and 150 staff, runs on four different shifts (including through the night) to keep up with the demand. The whole operation proves how valuable collaboration is in achieving the high-pressure workload.

“Most of the jobs we have, you can’t complete alone,” says Alex. “Plus there is always something that crops up - so there is a lot of problem solving, especially with the time constraints we have. For example, we might get asked to finish a part by the end of the day, and when you look at the drawing you realise it isn’t possible. But the amount of experience we have in our department means someone will suggest an idea or a solution that another colleague might not have seen.

“We recently had an issue where the glue we use wouldn’t set in the time we needed, then someone suggested an alternative - to use a silicone bond - and that was the solution. Between the whole team, we’re nearly always able to get the job done - and in time.”

Alex works and helps manage the day shift at Enstone, but ensures the lines of communication are clear so that night shift workers can immediately pick up the tasks and not lose any time before they start work. It’s all part of the seamless operation that keeps production running around the clock - and keeps the wheels turning on the track.