Representative inspiration

Increasing diversity can only be a good thing for motorsport

- Jahee Campbell-Brennan

In my years as a motorsport engineer, a particular memory that will stay with me is a time I attended an MIA conference in 2019. It was held at Force India’s HQ and lots of senior motorsport representatives were present. It was a great event as I had the opportunity to network and engage in some very interesting conversations, but rarely in my adult life have I felt ‘all eyes on me’ in such an intense manner. Reason being I was the only attendee of dark skin, and I definitely felt it.

There was no overt negativity aimed towards me, but I felt a strong sense that, because of my appearance, I was an unknown and extraordinary quantity. I felt the uncertainty and unfamiliarity that comes with being a black man in a predominantly white space.

While I feel it’s important to add that, professionally, I would consider that day a positive experience, it certainly drove me to examine why I am such an unfamiliar sight in those spaces, and why there is such a stark lack of diversity in motorsport engineering.

Where do they go?

I went to Sussex university, where my engineering classes were very ethnically diverse. Perhaps 50 per cent of my graduation year was of non-white heritage, so I’m aware there are many qualified black and ‘other’ engineers out there. But why are they not making it to motorsport?