Mark Preston is best known for his remarkable accomplishments in Formula One, where he’s held key roles in the Arrows Grand Prix, McLaren Racing, and Super Aguri F1 teams. Now he heads up the Techeetah Formula E team which delivered the first 1-2 finish for any team in the ABB FIA Formula E Championship. As the series’ only customer team in Formula E, Mark delivers an insight into the optimisation of resources in a competitive environment to deliver results. With a career history that provides abundant evidence of his engineering skills and acumen in cutting-edge technology, Mark’s achievements would not have been possible without his passion for teamwork and his clear head for business.
Both of these he has evidenced in recent years by his completion of an MBA at Oxford University, and his ongoing involvement in the development and commercialisation of new, green technologies and start-ups, including starting an autonomous car company in 2017; StreetDrone. Mark moved to the UK in 1996 from Australia to break into Formula One. Six years with Arrows Grand Prix saw Mark go from stress analysis engineer to McLaren F1 as a Principal Designer then Head of Vehicle Laboratories. Mark worked alongside Adrian Newey and Mike Coughlan on the controversial MP4-18a but with bigger plans in mind moved onto starting Preston Racing with the ultimate aim of starting his own Formula One team.
A small group of former Arrows Grand Prix colleagues got together and formed an F1 team startup which then morphed into Super Aguri F1 with Honda, Bridgestone and Aguri Suzuki. This was the start of the famous 100 days of starting Super Aguri Formula One. 100 Days to start a Formula One team involved the recruitment of 100 people, delivery of 55 tonnes of equipment and 2 cars to the first Formula One race in Bahrain.
Most recently, his biggest achievement is as a founding Team Principal of the FIA Formula E (electric) Championship. This city based form of clean and green racing is pioneering the world of electric drivetrains that will disrupt the automotive marketplace and drive change in one of the world’s oldest manufacturing industries: transportation. As a leading figure in the motorsports industry, Mark is an ideal speaker for relevant talks and fascinating keynote speeches. In addition, Mark can provide an exciting insight into the world of startups, autonomous, electric and F1 fields and pull this together in a compelling way for any event based on innovation, technology, and the future.
How to hire Mark Preston
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Mark Preston for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do not accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
"Mark has presented to a PerkinElmer client-based audience on three separate occasions. Fundamentally, Mark really cares about his audience and at each of our events he has tailored content and delivery to optimise interaction. A 2018 FIA Formula E Driver’s Championship winning Team Principal that talks with passion, confidence and experience on electric vehicle/battery/infrastructure development, macro environmental challenges and of course you get the inside track on what it takes to run a successful Formula E Team. You will leave a Mark Preston presentation inspired, taking home that valuable gift of ‘Wow, I feel a little bit special having been exposed to that unique insight/behind the scenes factoid, but I can’t share with anyone else as Chatham House Rules were in play’. Would I recommend Mark as a keynote presenter at your forthcoming conference? Absolutely, but don’t spread the word too much as we’d like to book him again soon!" - Gavin, PerkinElmer LAS (UK) Ltd
- 2017 - Launched StreetDrone
- 2016 - Named Team Principal of Techeetah Formula E
- 2015 - Founded and was named Director of the MobOx Foundation CIC
- 2014 - Co-founded Super Aguri Formula E and was Team Principal
- 2008 - Appointed Managing Director of Formtech Composites Ltd
- 2006 - Appointed Chief Technical officer for Super Aguri in Formula 1
- 2004 - Established Preston Racing
- 2002 - Named Principle Designer of McLaren Racing
- 1992 - Graduated from Monash University