AT&T Williams F1

Meet Katie Aspinall, a long serving employee at Williams and also one of the most formidable and respected hospitality managers in the paddock. Katie is in charge of all VIP hosting over Grand Prix weekends and test events from the motorhome to the paddock club.... 

PERSONAL
Age: 39
Star sign: Libra
Start date at Williams F1: 01 February 2001

Previous jobs in F1? My first job in Formula One was with Tyrrell. When they were bought by British American Tobacco, I elected to work for the underground Honda Racing Development F1 team, but, sadly, that folded six months later. After a brief spell at Arrows, I freelanced for CSS Stellar and that’s when I came onto Williams F1’s radar.

Why Williams F1? They are like the best-looking boy at school: you don’t bother talking to them because you think there’s no chance they’ll ask you out. But here I am working for them – it’s great.

Hobbies? My friends. If you want to do this job and have a social life outside Formula One, you really have to work hard at it. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have any friends left outside this field.

PROFESSIONAL
Describe your job.... I’m responsible for all interaction that a guest might have with the team, on-track and at a test session. We run four hospitality programmes: at races we have the motorhome, the Paddock Club and our premium grandstand programme; at tests we’re able to run a more inclusive programme, which includes a viewing area in the garage.

What’s the best thing about working for Williams F1? We have a hierarchy here, no question, but it’s the approachability of that hierarchy that’s so great. I feel that I can talk to Frank about anything and I love the fact that Patrick’s so approachable. He understands the marketing needs of the team, even though he is so technically focused.

Is Williams F1’s independent status a help or a hindrance? You can do it differently if you have the money of a manufacturer team, to the extent that it probably doesn’t matter if you don’t sell all the tickets to an event. We, on the other hand, have to make everything pay. But we don’t have the pressure of facilitating access for every car dealership, which must be very hard for the manufacturers.

Are you looking forward to the night race in Singapore? We’ll just change the balance of our day. We’ve had to think about lots of things like lighting the suite, and I must say I’m a bit nervous. But, like all these things, I’m sure it’ll be alright on the night.