Available to book
Marc Priestley
Marc Priestley helps organisations build high-performance teams using lessons from a decade at McLaren in Formula One. A leadership speaker, team culture expert, and BBC F1 broadcaster, he brings insights from championship-winning teams to audiences worldwide.
Marc Priestley spent a decade at McLaren's Formula One team, working as chief mechanic on some of the sport's most successful cars. He now translates that experience into lessons on team culture and high performance for businesses worldwide.
Since leaving the pitlane, Marc has become a BBC Formula One commentator, co-presented the television series Wheeler Dealers, and authored two books, The Mechanic and Pitlane Lessons. He also hosts the podcast Pitlane Life Lessons and has voiced the race engineer in the official F1 Game since 2022.
Marc draws on first-hand experience of pitstops completed in under two seconds and championship campaigns alongside drivers including Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. He shows organisations how F1 teams make fast, accurate decisions under pressure, and applies that thinking to leadership, teamwork, and continuous improvement in any industry.
Audiences leave his sessions with practical approaches to building high-performing teams, fostering a culture where innovation can thrive, and making sound decisions when time and margin for error are limited. His examples are drawn directly from championship-winning F1 environments.
Book Marc to bring the discipline and pace of a world championship pit crew to your next leadership event or conference.
Topics, sessions and talks
Drawing on his years in the high-pressure world of Formula One, Marc Priestley explores what it takes to build the resilience and ambition needed to overcome setbacks and keep performing under scrutiny. He shares how elite pit crews recover from mistakes mid-race and translates that mindset into practical steps for professional and personal goals, leaving audiences with a clearer sense of how to compete, adapt, and keep moving forward when circumstances change quickly.
Marc Priestley spent a decade working alongside world champions including Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso inside McLaren's Formula One team. He unpacks the leadership and teamwork lessons behind championship-winning campaigns, from how a pit crew coordinates a two-second stop to how driver and team trust each other under pressure. Audiences come away with concrete ideas for building trust, communication, and shared purpose within their own teams, whatever industry they operate in.
Marc Priestley examines how Formula One teams sustain continuous improvement and make accurate decisions at speed, drawing on his own experience as a McLaren mechanic during championship seasons. He breaks down the systems and habits that allow F1 teams to perform consistently at the highest level, race after race, and shows how the same discipline applies to any organisation trying to compete under constant pressure. Attendees gain a practical lens for driving performance in their own environment.
Marc Priestley looks at where motorsport is heading, from the rise of electric vehicle technology to Formula One's commitment to reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2030. Speaking from years inside the McLaren garage, he explains what these shifts mean for teams, sponsors, and fans, and how the pace of change in F1 mirrors the pressure many industries now face to innovate responsibly. Audiences leave with a clearer picture of where the sport, and their own sector, is headed.
Marc brings the credibility of Formula One engineering, media, and leadership experience to practical business challenges, making him a strong choice for high-performance organisations. His pit crew experience gives teams a practical model for improving decisions, teamwork, and performance under pressure, particularly during periods of change or growth.
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frequently asked questions
Something we've not covered here?
To book Marc Priestley, email marc.priestley@getapeptalk.com or call PepTalk on +44 20 3835 2929 (UK) or +1 737 888 5112 (US), and one of our speaker agents will contact you within hours to confirm Marc's availability and speaking fee. If you can, please include your budget upfront – it helps us fast-track your request. It’s also helpful to know the date, format (virtual or in-person), location, and about your audience.
Marc Priestley structures his sessions around direct F1 pit crew mechanics — such as the coordination behind a sub-two-second pitstop — and maps those operational realities onto leadership, decision-making, and team performance challenges faced by business audiences.
Marc Priestley speaks on competitive mindset and resilience, leadership and teamwork, and high-performance environments and decision-making under pressure. He spent a decade as a McLaren Formula One mechanic working alongside Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, and has since become a BBC Formula One commentator and author of two books, The Mechanic and Pitlane Lessons.
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Three to six months ahead is comfortable for most events, and 12 months is better for large conferences, peak-season dates or one specific in-demand speaker. Shorter timelines are workable, and PepTalk regularly fills last-minute and replacement bookings within days. Availability is the constraint, so get in touch as soon as you have a date.
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