Williams F1

Motorsport is often a secretive business, but this was a covert operation with a difference. Tom McCullough managed to persuade the Williams security staff that he had legitimate business on the premises, but in reality this was a spot of last-ditch opportunism. In his hand he bore a letter offering gainful employment with Jaguar Racing…

“I basically blagged my way past security,” he says. “Williams had recently interviewed me for a job but I was still waiting to hear whether I’d been successful. Then Jaguar made me an offer... I was happy about that, obviously, but in reality I desperately wanted to work for Williams.” So he strolled boldly to the main reception desk and asked whether he could speak to technical director Sam Michael.

“Sam actually came down,” Tom says, “which was quite lucky because he was aware of my situation. I showed him my letter and said, ‘Look, I’ve been offered this and have a mortgage to pay, but I really want to work here. Is there any chance?’ He promised he’d have a look, but I didn’t really expect anything. He rang me about an hour later, though. He’d had a word with Frank and Patrick, who apparently approved of my enthusiasm, and offered me a job. You could say I was quite pleased about that…”

That was 2002 and Tom worked as a data engineer for Williams’ test and race teams before moving on to spearhead the former’s track operations. This season he returns to the grand prix frontline as Nico Hulkenberg’s race engineer – the latest episode in a life that has always been steeped in motorsport.

“My father, Ian, competed in club racing throughout his working life,” he says. “He’s stopped now, although he’s still tearing up hillclimb courses in southern France, at the wheel of a Ford Escort Mk1. Dad was a teacher but prepared cars for people to earn a bit of cash on the side, which financed his hobby. I got into that myself, then went off to university and bought a Formula Ford 2000 Crosslé to do a bit of racing.

“I think most engineers want to be drivers, but I always knew I was neither wealthy nor quick enough. I did the racing to help me understand the engineering side a little better.”

When he wasn’t busy driving all over the UK (“Sleeping at the circuits in the back of my Citroën BX estate – a great adventure”), he was completing a four-year sandwich course at the University of Hertfordshire, with support from volume racing car manufacturer Reynard. He joined the company full time upon graduation and remained there until it ceased trading in 2002.

“In 1997 I drove the company’s spare parts truck around Europe,” he says, “following sports car events, and I later got to spend lots of time in America, working as a data engineer on the Champ Car programme. It was all invaluable experience.”

Then came the job offer from Jaguar... and a clandestine, but fruitful, trip to Williams.

In his own words: “I’m a committed team player.”