Kiwi student pursues F1 career

During the Singapore Grand Prix last weekend, James Gourlie, a 25-year old engineering student from Christchurch, was crowned the Asia & Oceania Finals winner of the Infiniti Engineering Academy by a panel of judges from Infiniti, Renault Sport Formula One Team and ‘decision science experts’ from Harvard University.

Selected from thousands of applications, the Infiniti Engineering Academy is the company’s annual global search for bright engineering talent to work across automotive and Formula One.

As the regional winner, Gourlie has been awarded a placement to work for the Hong Kong-based luxury carmaker and Renault Sport Formula One Team.  

Competing against nine other finalists from around the region, Gourlie tackled numerous tests to get to the final event, including an engineering exam, one-to-one interviews with the judges, a dragster car build, and facing a tough media Q&A session where journalists from different industries evaluated his communication skill.

“Gourlie will relocate to the UK in January 2019 and be provided with a competitive salary, an INFINITI company car, travel and accommodations for one year.

“Gourlie will spend six months working at the Renault Formula One Team’s Technical Center in the UK (Enstone) and six months at INFINITI’s European Technical Center (Cranfield). He will play a key role in the ongoing transfer of technical knowledge and expertise between Renault Sport Formula One Team and INFINITI,” said Infiniti in a press release.

Gourlie acknowledged the win would place him in extremely good stead for life after university.

“I still can’t believe that I have won! This is the place to be – Formula 1 is the cream of the crop. Winning the INFINITI Engineering Academy and having this opportunity is a dream come true!"