FORMULA ONE BOFFINS COULD BOOST ARMS RACE

'Agility, pace and innovation' drives UK dominance

- CONOR WILSON

A FORMER leading Formula One engineer has called on defence chiefs to harness the innovative skills within motor racing to arm Britain for a potential conflict with Russia.

Mark Mathieson, who held senior roles with Mercedes and McLaren, believes the expertise that has seen UK teams dominate the elite sport in recent years can be utilised to rapidly bridge gaps in military capability.

He thinks the answer to improving slow, ineffective procurement processes used by the Ministry of Defence — which often end in ships, tanks and missiles entering service late and over budget - may lie in lessons developed within motorsport’s premier competition.

After leaving Formula One, Mathieson founded Surrey-based engineering consultancy PurpleSector — and now he wants to help replace vital kit and arms that were given to Ukraine after Russia’s invasion.

He said: “We really think we can build sovereign capability in the UK. We dominate the world in F1 engineering capability, most of the teams are based here and they have been for decades.

"And what we are very good at in the UK is agility, pace and innovation.

"What we're not so good at is converting that into a product form that you make and sell in some form of volume to get the payback on the investment.