Motorsport’s power extends far beyond the racetrack. Its speed, spectacle, and sense of possibility can capture young people’s imaginations, introduce them to new careers, and teach valuable lessons in resilience, ambition, and teamwork.

In this interview, Headteacher and lifelong motorsport enthusiast, Jeff Harriott explores how that appeal can be harnessed to engage and support young people. From the generosity of figures including Mark Webber and David Brabham to an F1 Academy club helping girls see themselves within the sport, their experiences show what can happen when inspiration is matched with meaningful opportunities, accessible pathways and the right support.

To begin, could you tell me about your background and how you first became interested in motorsport?

I grew up in a town of about 10,000 people, halfway between Sydney and Brisbane. There were probably two television channels, and the nearest McDonald’s was around five hours away.

Australia was dominated by car culture, particularly in rural areas. Bathurst was the race everyone cared about. Formula One felt much more distant because of the late-night broadcasts, limited coverage and lack of access to the established European development pathways. That began to change with the Australian Grand Prix. Living so far from the rest of the world, having an international event in Australia connected us to something much larger.

Connection has always been central to my relationship with motorsport. An off-road race was held in the bush near my town, and although we couldn’t afford to travel to Formula One events, this brought international drivers and teams to us. Family friends raced old Volkswagens, so I spent time in the pits, camped near the course and worked as a marshal.

Once you attend a race, the noise, speed and drama stay with you. Television cannot fully reproduce that experience, but the challenge is giving people the opportunity to attend an event and form that connection for themselves.

You have worked with several prominent people in motorsport. How did those relationships develop?

We are all shaped by the messages we receive from our parents, grandparents, and the communities around us. If you don’t receive certain messages, it can be difficult to succeed, whether you want to become a journalist, lawyer, doctor, baker or builder. You need a work ethic, resilience and the confidence to put yourself forward.

Schools have to convey those wider messages while also teaching spelling, handwriting and times tables. Sometimes the messages children receive elsewhere contradict what we are trying to tell them.

I began writing to inspirational people and asking whether they would send a short message to the children. One of those letters went to Mark Webber.

Mark replied and asked whether he could telephone me the following Sunday. I happened to be at the Science and History Museum for a Thomas the Tank Engine day. A life-sized Thomas went past while we were speaking, and I had to say, “I’m really sorry, Mark, but I might have to stop for a second because Thomas the Tank Engine is going past and I can’t hear you.”

That was how it started. There are people who do great things in the world, and then there are people who do exceptional things.

Initially, I asked Mark to record a message for a boy who was going through a difficult period. That developed into a long-distance mentoring arrangement. Mark telephoned every month, often from wherever he was racing, and spoke to the children about setting goals, fulfilling their potential and becoming the best versions of themselves.

In 2011, Mark invited us to the Red Bull Home Run in Milton Keynes. We visited the factory and then entered a restricted area where the cars were being prepared. It was just the team, a couple of children from Manchester, Mark and me.

Mark could easily have greeted us briefly and returned to his responsibilities. Instead, he introduced the children to people including Sebastian Vettel and David Coulthard. When the mechanics removed the tyre blankets, he invited the boys to touch the tyres and look inside the cars. Thousands of spectators were behind the barriers, but Mark made those children feel they belonged there.

He kept going. When the boys moved to high school, he sent them a letter wishing them luck. During Covid, he sent messages for me to share with the children and their families.

I also contacted David Brabham, who raced in Formula One and won at Le Mans. I asked him for a message, but he drove to the school and spent the day with us. He brought a Le Mans trophy, delivered an assembly to 420 children and stayed to visit classes and answer questions.

I had previously met him at a WEC event at Silverstone. One moment we were having coffee; the next I was beside the car before he raced. The Brabhams had been a significant part of my childhood, and it reminded me how easy it is to overlook the connections that shape who we are.

Neither Mark nor David ever asked for anything in return. Both understood the importance of helping when you have the opportunity and the platform to do so.

You have also become involved with F1 Academy. What has that work involved, and what have you found most significant?

Again, it started with an email. I contacted Susie, and she replied personally, which blew my mind a little.

It is becoming increasingly difficult for children to find a sense of purpose when so many of their needs appear to be met through their phones. Motorsport has an edge that can draw them in: they see the drivers, cars and glamour and think, “How cool is that?”

We need to use that appeal to show children the full range of opportunities available. They might not want to be a driver, but perhaps they could imagine becoming an engineer, artist or graphic designer. Without somebody introducing them to motorsport, however, they are unlikely to connect with it or see themselves belonging there.

That is particularly important because motorsport has historically been dominated by men, primarily white men. As the saying goes, if you can’t see your face, it is much harder to believe that world could include you.

I saw what Susie and her team were doing and suggested an F1 Academy club where girls could discover the amazing work women were doing across motorsport. Susie introduced me to Ellie and Katie, who talked me through their work and provided training materials.

The after-school club met every Monday. Most of the girls had never encountered motorsport, so we were starting from zero. Before races, we explored the location and track; afterwards, we watched highlights and discussed what had happened. We also examined different careers, the skills they required and the experiences of women doing those jobs.

Gradually, the girls began connecting those careers with subjects they enjoyed at school. Someone who loved maths might see an engineer with the same interest and think, “That could be me.”

Each girl chose a driver and team to follow. My theory was that it is like putting Haaland or Rashford on the back of a football shirt: children connect with an individual they think is cool or whose life interests them.

The girls also created their own teams, choosing names, designing cars, inventing sponsors and producing liveries and logos. We selected a winning design and awarded a prize, while I continued feeding our experiences back to Ellie.

Soon, girls from families with no previous interest in motorsport were watching F1 Academy and Formula One with their parents. It was almost reverse-engineering that connection: the children were introducing their mums and dads to the sport. By the end, some were asking their parents to take them karting. These were children who could be nervous about trying new things, so that was really positive.

On a small scale, it showed how we could engage more people, especially girls. My main aim was for them to understand that they could become anything they wanted and resist anybody who told them otherwise.

The role models within F1 Academy are incredibly important to people they may never meet. Susie, Ellie and the others may ultimately aim to put a woman into Formula One, but their influence reaches much further. Like Mark with the boys he mentored, they may never fully appreciate their impact from a distance.

Unfortunately, many programmes begin at high school, when children may already have absorbed the message that something is not for them. Reversing that belief is incredibly difficult, which is why early intervention matters.

Motorsport offers enormous potential, but the challenge is aligning the needs of the sport with those of schools. Initiatives designed without an understanding of schools often don’t fit, while schools may ask for things that don’t suit the other organisation. Bringing those perspectives together is the trickiest part.

What has surprised you most about the motorsport world?

One of the biggest surprises has been the similarity between a motorsport team and a school.

A school does not have an obvious trophy moment, but everyone works towards a shared objective: helping each child fulfil their potential. Motorsport operates in much the same way. Although the driver is the most visible person, success depends on a huge number of people working towards the same outcome.

If you have ever seen a Formula One garage, you could eat your tea off the floor. That happens because somebody thinks, “This is my job, and I’m going to do it to the best of my ability because that is what the team needs.”

The other surprise was people’s generosity. Mark once told me that sportspeople can be very single-minded because they have to be so focused. Formula One is the ultimate version of that, yet people at that level still make time to do the kinds of things Mark, David and the F1 Academy team have done.

I’ve been fortunate to see how the sport can serve a greater purpose. Lewis Hamilton’s Mission 44 and David Coulthard’s More Than Equal are not simply identifying people; they are giving them access to training, sports psychology and other support.

There is an African philosophy called Ubuntu, which translates loosely as, “I am because we are.” That captures motorsport for me. Everybody is standing on somebody else’s shoulders.

My philosophy is that we are all here to make the world a better place. Motorsport can pursue success while improving people’s lives, if we allow it to. Many excellent programmes already exist; the challenge is bringing everything together.

What does the next generation need from the people around them as they attempt to build careers in motorsport?

Hope Theory suggests that people need three things: a goal, a pathway towards it and the agency or willpower to follow that pathway.

Children need to understand their goal and what achieving it will require. They then need a realistic route forward, which is particularly difficult in motorsport because progress depends heavily on funding and, at a young age, parental support.

Only a small pool of people ever experiences motor racing. It is impossible to know how many exceptionally talented individuals have been missed because they were unaware of the opportunity or could not access a pathway into the sport. The first priority should be creating that pathway and the connection that makes children want to follow it.

The third part is agency: the willpower to keep going. Children can take failure very badly, depending on the messages they receive from the people around them. Everything should be viewed through a lens of growth. If you didn’t win the race, what could you do differently? Nobody is going to win everything.

Those who do well tend to evaluate their performance and consider how they can improve. Others may be equally talented but struggle because they place responsibility on the referee, coach or somebody else. Families, teachers and mentors must help children develop resilience and a genuine willingness to learn.

The larger we can make the pool, the more impact motorsport can have in schools. We can use the sport’s glitz and glamour to draw children in, then show them the years of practice, setbacks and persistence behind that achievement.

If we create more accessible pathways and give a wider range of children the right support, the talent pool will grow, and motorsport will begin to reflect a broader range of backgrounds. Those new faces will inspire other young people to see a place for themselves, creating a cycle from which the entire sport can benefit.