Leah Halsey: Paving Her Path in Motorsport, One Lap at a Time

As the motorsport job market becomes ever more competitive, it can feel like there are few open opportunities, especially for women, to break into the field. Leah Halsey, a motorsport presenter and content creator at Doris Archer Motorsport and communications executive at Fastest Pitstop, demonstrates that pursuing her passion for motorsport is possible with dedication and confidence, even while managing full-time university studies at Winchester and life outside of professional work.

When people think of the motorsport industry, they often picture the high-pressure world of Formula 1. But motorsport extends far beyond that, and building a career in this field begins with gaining experience. Everyone in the industry began somewhere—so where does one start?

Leah Halsey not only embodies a determined hard worker but is also a fully self-made individual. When asked this question, Halsey, a current university student studying sports journalism, said that LinkedIn, the online platform for networking and finding job postings, has “been so invaluable for me to get all [of] my experiences”. 

Halsey told Females in Motorsport that her work at Doris Archer Motorsport, a racing team that strives to make entry to the industry more accessible, came alive through this very method. What she needed was experience; what she got was a newfound opportunity that combined her interest in broadcasting and previous roles to become a presenter and content creator with Doris Archer Motorsport.

“I was connected with a few people and they were advertising for a content creator position,” she told Females in Motorsport.”I thought, I can’t go for the big guns like McLaren or Red Bull straight away because I don’t have the experience to back that up or the knowledge really. But, something like a startup team, which Doris Archer [Motorsport] was for, was a perfect opportunity to develop that skill set whilst in a team environment.”

Halsey spoke with Mel, one of the two co-founders and drivers of Doris Archer Motorsport, about her potential role within the team. Halsey mentioned that working with Mel has allowed her to combine her interest in broadcasting with social media management. Now, she works as a live reporter for the team alongside her co-presenter Katrina Muhsin.

When asked what a day in her life looks like, Halsey described a race day during the 750 Motor Club PBS Brakes Hot Hatch Championship series with Doris Archer Motorsport at the UK’s home of motorsport. 

“I’ll talk you through Silverstone because that’s my favorite track,” she says. “I wake up, do my face because I’m on camera all day, get hyped, eat breakfast. [I] Get in the car, but that day I was vlogging. I drove to the track, met up with the team, get a few little cutaways for my vlog like the car rolling out to the track or Lee and Mel speaking to each other. [I] Do a little piece to the camera saying now you’ve got qualifying and Mel did really good in practice.”

Halsey says she then watches the race from up close and sometimes can stand in the pit wall to get a closer view. 

“After qualifying, I get an interview with Mel, who was driving that day, and ask, ‘How did it go, have you got any strategies for the race, how are you feeling?’”

She mentions that the rest of the race day usually consists of continuing to watch the race, getting debriefs from the drivers, and going home to edit the footage for the vlog. She also adds that her role doesn’t have a consistent “day-to-day” schedule, but rather focuses more on obtaining and broadcasting the content on race days.

“It’s really nice because I’m developing my skills of talking to the camera, editing, and things like that to help me hopefully in the future get to being a broadcaster for a big audience.”

Leah Halsey for Doris Archer Motorsport [Photo credit: @abraham_wrc on Instagram]

On the other hand, Halsey said the path to becoming a communications executive at Fastest Pitstop was rather unique. 

“I was studying to do musical theater and performing on stage. But I was like, ‘Is this really what I want to do’ and it was the time where motorsport was becoming more prevalent in my life and I had been to Silverstone twice for the grand prix. As an 18-year-old, that’s scary. For something I trained pretty much all of my life for. To then not do that anymore was completely terrifying, but looking back, [it was] 110% right for me.”

Halsey explained that she had been following Fastest Pitstop on X as a fan for all of the latest industry news. She recalls seeing that they were hiring and replied that although she didn’t know if she would return to performing or do something completely different, she took the chance to apply.

“About a week later, I got a DM saying that they were really interested in taking me on board,” Leah says. “And then, here I am a year later, still working for them but in a new role. I started by mainly focusing on Instagram and TikTok, but there was a re-shift around the team. So I moved from being a normal social media admin to a manager with my good friend Jess of Instagram, in particular. And then naturally, I took on more of a communications role.”

Halsey clarified that she does not manage posts anymore, but now controls the brand’s reputation, partnerships, and interactions such as giveaways. 

When asked what excites her most about this role, Halsey said: “It’s talking to so many different people because our goal is to form a partnership, hopefully, with Formula 1. We recently had a meeting with Sarah who’s the press officer for Formula 2 and Formula 3. So we’re working closely with them at the moment and getting all kinds of exclusives and things, which is really exciting as someone who wants to work in Formula 2 because I love the feeder series. They’re so inspiring, especially F1 Academy.

“So developing that connection with Sarah excites me the most at the moment. But, the prospect that that could potentially lead to, if we play our cards right with our brand, having a partnership with F1.” 

Leah Halsey interviewing Mel Higgins for Doris Archer Motorsport [Photo credit: @abraham_wrc on Instagram]

Leah additionally reflects on her experience as a woman in a highly male-dominated industry.

“I’m very aware that I’m no Laura Winter or Natalie Pinkham or Alice Powell, but to do the work that I do, I feel extremely privileged,” she says. “Sometimes I need to take a step back and remember I'm only 21. I've only been doing this a year, and wow, in a year, how many opportunities have I had, like, how much growth have I had?”

Moreover, Halsey shares some discouraging remarks that she has heard previously from a male university professor (although not at her current university), shedding light on the complexity of being a woman in motorsport. 

“They said to me, ‘Oh, well, as a woman who wants to go into motorsport, you're in a really privileged position. You've got the upper hand already, because there's not a lot of women in motorsports. So, you'll find it easier to get into,’” she said. 

She remarked that changes have been made within the industry with the introduction of female-focused groups such as F1 Academy, but that there is still a long way to go. 

“Why can’t women be at the very top of these roles as technical directors or number one mechanics, or even team principal?” she says. “Why can’t we be given that outlet?”

Nevertheless, her belief in the motorsport industry’s ability to champion growth in this aspect is strong: “But, I’m 100% that we will get there. I just wish we'd get there a lot sooner.” 

Leah Halsey once again proves that women are more than capable of being a part of the motorsport industry. From managing school to juggling her role as a broadcaster and presenter at Doris Archer Motorsport and managing partnerships and brand image at Fastest Pitstop, Leah is an extraordinary symbol of determination and perseverance, showing girls worldwide that they can “do it all”.