How a young female Harborough engineer is battling to help Lewis Hamilton win a record-equalling seventh F1 championship in a male-dominated industry

A teenage Harborough engineer is battling to help race ace Lewis Hamilton win a record-equalling seventh F1 championship.

Ellie Pacey, 19, works as an apprentice testing technician at Mercedes AMG HPP (High Performance Powertrains) at Brixworth, near Northampton.

The incredibly-gifted teen was one of only two people given the highly-coveted post out of 500-plus applicants.

Now Ellie is helping to tune up the world-beating engines of Hamilton and his Finnish team-mate Valtteri Bottas as they gear up to race in the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday July 5.

To top that multi-talented Ellie’s also charged through to the semi-finals of the Miss England beauty contest next month.

And she’s thrown herself into charity work and helping to clean up the countryside as well as competing in tractor pulling – the world’s most powerful motorsport.

Talking to the Harborough Mail, remarkable rookie Ellie, who lives most of the time with her boyfriend Nick, 30, in Husbands Bosworth, said: “It’s non-stop right now – an absolute whirlwind!

“But it’s just amazing, gobsmacking – I really am living the dream.”

And she eloquently and powerfully made a special plea to girls and young women across Harborough and South Leicestershire.

“I’m ambitious and very focused – but I’m not just doing this for me.

“I want to become a role model, a beacon, for girls and young women everywhere,” insisted Ellie, who used to work at Welland Waste Management in Theddingworth.

“Motorsport and engineering are still very much male-dominated worlds.

“But I’m determined to help encourage many more girls and women into both.

“There shouldn’t be any barriers or ceilings to what you can achieve.

“The sky’s the limit if you put your mind to it.”

Sports-mad Ellie defied massive odds to land the plum job at Mercedes AMG HPP last September.

The trailblazing teenager joined the world-famous team after gaining her A-levels in high performance engineering at Silverstone University Technical College based at the iconic home of motor racing.

“I was stunned to come here – it’s always been my dream to work in motorsport.

“As a test technician I am helping to test new engine components for Lewis and Valtteri as they prepare to launch the new F1 season in Austria,” said Ellie, talking to me on her lunch break at Mercedes.

“It’s hard to get my head round and it’s a huge responsibility working at the cutting edge of Formula One.

“But I’m enjoying every minute.

“I’ve met Lewis and Valtteri and they were both smashing - it’s such a big thrill.”

Ellie’s got her inspirational dad, Mark Pacey, to thank for putting her through her paces as a wide-eyed youngster.

“My dad’s been taking part in tractor pulling for the last 35 years.

“He was just as excited as me when I got the Mercedes job.

“Dad took me to my first tractor sport event when I was a two-week-old baby so I guess it’s in my blood!

“And I got into competing in my own vehicles when I was seven or eight,” she said.

“I just love it.

“We have to pull a sledge, known as a weight transferrance machine, down a 100-metre track.

“We can do that in eight or nine seconds with a massive 4000 horsepower engine powering us!

“We’ve raced together in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany in the Euro Cup and all over the UK.

“We have finished second in the British Championship.

“But it’s a very expensive sport – with a set of tyres costing £4,000 – and we haven’t got a sponsor.

“So we do it for the sheer joy of it.

“It’s funny because we often go to special events and shows at the NEC near Birmingham.

“I’ve been asked so many times who’s the tractor driver and who’s the technician.

“And I always tell them, of course, that I am the driver and the technician – I’m as handy with a spanner as I am at the wheel.”

But the macho motorsport diehards who have accused Ellie of just being a pretty face are not totally wrong.

She’s beaten off stiff competition, again, to storm into the semi-finals of Miss England on Friday July 31.

The contest will be live streamed from 7pm.

“It’s very exciting and I can’t wait.

“You can tune in and vote for me so I’m appealing to people across Harborough to get behind me on the night,” said Ellie.

“Competing in Miss England is about much more than looking good these days.

“It’s given me a very positive platform to air my views about creating new equal opportunities for girls as well as showcasing my charity work.”

To support Ellie and follow her fortunes you can click here: https://www.missengland.info/qualifiers/

“I have also been supporting causes close to my heart.

“I’ve collected over 300 items such as shampoos, make-up and toiletries for Elle for Elle – which supports women who have suffered domestic abuse,” said Ellie.

“I pick up litter every time I go out running or walking.

“If all of us picked up one or two pieces of rubbish every time we go out we’ll soon clean up our beautiful countryside.

“I’m also raising money for Beat, the UK’s leading charity for people with eating disorders.

“I just want to make the point that exercise is about enjoying yourself rather than burning off calories.

“So it’s been a very hectic time and I’ve never been so busy.

“But I’m raring to go with the whole world of motorsport at my feet as long as I work hard and keep learning.

“And that’s the message I want to send out to girls and young women across Harborough – if I can do it then you can too!”