Feature

21 Oct 2025

From apprentice to Aston Martin Aramco's No.1 Mechanic

Harry Rush traces his journey from a curious boy tinkering in his dad's garage to leading the pit crew on Lance Stroll's F1 car as we mark the global launch of Valvoline's Aspiring Mechanics Programme, which is ensuring the next generation of mechanics have the tools, training, and opportunity to follow in Harry's footsteps.

By Harry Rush.

"I've always felt I was born to be a mechanic.

"I grew up in my dad's garage in High Wycombe. It was very much a family business. It was opened by my grandfather, and then my dad took it over.

"As a kid, it was just a very normal thing to visit Dad at work and be around the cars and the tools and meet the other mechanics in the workshop. They became like a big group of older brothers.

"I was in there nearly all the time, playing with various things that Dad let me. I had an interest in what he was doing and at home we'd usually be mucking about with something in the garage.

"I've always had a love for building things and anything practical. I'd have this fixation on taking something apart, seeing if there’s anything I could change and make it better, and putting it back together as nicely as I could.

"I'd ride my mountain bike through the woods near our house and note what I wanted to improve on it. If there was anything I wasn't happy with, I'd be digging into the mechanics' toolboxes at Dad's garage and doing whatever I could to make it better. It was the same when I got my first motocross bike.

"I was always tinkering. I'd get in trouble at school for making stuff out of bits that I found in my pencil case rather than paying attention in lessons. I've always had the urge to be building things even if they weren't car related.

"That ran in the family. I grew up in a household where, if something got broken, we'd try to fix it before we threw it, which was normally Dad's job. But as I grew up, he realised that he could retire from that and get me doing it.

Being a mechanic isn't just understanding how things go together; it's having a feel for what you're working on and for using the tools, because it's so hands-on.

"I was immersed in how things work from a very young age and I was at the garage as much as possible. As I got older, I gained the trust of the mechanics to let me loose on the spanners. It was great. It's where I really realised my love for taking things apart and building things.

"It felt natural when I started working there properly. The first job I was given was to wash the cars. I think I had to prove I could do a good job of that first.

"I was very much the apprentice. I remember getting in on a Monday morning just after I'd moved on from school and the first job of the day was dragging all the oil drainers to the compound where we emptied them in the freezing cold. I got given all the best jobs!

"I'd be on hand to help the other mechanics. They'd pull me over and explain what they were working on and that's how I started learning.

"They'd all known me since I was about four or five years old. I was a familiar face in the workshop and the advice they gave me was invaluable.

"I loved working with Dad. We've been best mates forever. We've always got on really well. We're so alike. It was quite obvious early on that I had a huge interest in working on cars and engines and it's something that he loves, so we shared that common interest. He taught me everything he knew and nurtured my interest.

I never thought F1 was an achievable goal. It just seemed so far away.

"The older I got, the more things I worked on, and I started feeling like I was adding something to the business. I loved it.

"I was learning from the guys in the workshop and I'd often pop out the front to say 'hello' to Dad, and then he'd have a moan at me for being there in my overalls, because that was the showroom!

"One of the most valuable things Dad taught me was how to get a feel for what you're working on. He put a load of different-sized bolts in a vice and told me to break them all so I could get an understanding of what they feel like just before they're about to break. It was probably partly for his benefit so I didn't go around breaking cars, but it's the small details like that which I think make you a good mechanic.

"Being a mechanic isn't just understanding how things go together; it's having a feel for what you're working on and for using the tools, because it's so hands-on. You're not just applying your knowledge, you're genuinely feeling what you're building.

"Dad took me to Silverstone when I was about eight years old for a track day someone had bought him as a gift. It was a very different environment to the garage back in High Wycombe.

"Seeing cars up close at high speed for the first time certainly grabbed my attention and opened my eyes to motorsport. Perhaps subconsciously, that triggered me to think about working on something other than road cars. But it certainly wasn't the case that I experienced motorsport and immediately knew that’s what I wanted to be involved in.

"I always knew I wanted to do something with cars, but even when I left school I didn't really have a strong idea of the next step.

"Dad just wanted me to take what he taught me as far as I possibly could, and both he and Mum really encouraged me to aim high; that's when motorsport became a more concrete option.

"I'd never really delved into that world before. I was never involved in karting or racing. A friend of ours had a relative who'd been to the National College for Motorsport at Silverstone, and they shared some information about the courses there. When I first applied to attend, I was too late, but I tried again the year after and luckily got in.

"I worked on lower formula cars to start with. It was my first introduction to being in a motorsport workshop.

"Shortly after that, I got a job with a junior formula team and then a sportscar team based in Silverstone. I instantly got the bug for racing. I absolutely loved it.

"But I never thought F1 was an achievable goal. There were a few people who said to me growing up, 'Oh, now that you're working in motorsport, do you think you'll ever go into F1?' But it just seemed so far away.

"Over the years, I went from team to team and worked in different series like Formula Renault and GP3, before eventually working in endurance racing and taking part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

"Being at Le Mans had been an ambition of mine for a while, and it wasn't until after I'd done it that I started thinking about F1.

"That became the next step and the next goal, and fortunately, I got an interview with the team – and that was several years before it became Aston Martin Aramco.

"I remember thinking, 'If I get the job, I'll give it a go for maybe three years.' 10 years on, I'm still here with the team and still enjoying every minute.

You take it apart, you understand how it works, and then you put it back together. It's all nuts and bolts at the end of the day.

"There's so much to love about this job, but one of the best bits is the buzz you get from going racing together as a team.

"I've always been an adrenaline junkie and going into Qualifying or a Grand Prix knowing you've put your all into building the car, setting it up all week with a fantastic team, knowing that the work you've done can have a real impact on the result, is a brilliant feeling.

"I love the pressure, knowing when it really counts, all working together and getting the thrill from going racing.

"I have to pinch myself that I'm representing the iconic Aston Martin brand, and, especially in our role as mechanics, getting the support of Valvoline, who make us feel a big part of their community and history. They’re two huge names in motorsport. To be part of that makes me feel very proud.

"And another great aspect is, fundamentally, I’m still a mechanic, still working with the tools. The love I have for the job is the same as when I was in Dad’s garage all those years ago.

Do it because you love it – and never give up.

"There's this joke amongst mechanics that everything's just nuts and bolts. Whether you're working on a bicycle or an F1 car, it's still put together with nuts and bolts.

"Obviously, some things are more complicated than others, but a lot of the process is the same. You take it apart, you understand how it works, and then you put it back together. If that's what you love doing, it doesn't matter what you’re working on, the passion endures. It's all nuts and bolts at the end of the day.

"Having that love for it is so important if you're a young, aspiring mechanic, perhaps wanting to get to F1 one day.

"Do it because you love it – and never give up. That's the best piece of advice I could give.

"When I started, I never thought I'd be working in F1, but I've got here purely through doing what I love.

"And the other thing is gain as much experience as you can. F1 was never my goal to start with. I left school at 16, armed only with the experience I had from Dad's garage, and went from there.

"It doesn't matter whether you're starting from a road car garage, it doesn't matter whether you're starting in a junior-level motorsport formula. If you work hard and you pick up as much experience as you can, you can do whatever you want."

Valvoline