Meet Patrick Harding, the Irish man coaching rising F1 star Alex Albon as new season begins

The hustle and bustle of a racing track might not be the environment you’d expect an “introvert by nature” to be in, but there’s no other place F1 performance coach Patrick Harding would rather be.

Although when he is back at base, the Laois native enjoys some downtime in London, where he lives with his Red Fox Labrador, Rua - which translates to a shade of red in Gaelic. 

“As an introvert, I get my energy from having some peace and quiet, some time on my own. For me, it’s really about understanding what I need in between races to be able to get my energy back before the next race weekend,” Patrick says.

Being an introvert is one of the things he has in common with F1 driver Alex Albon, who he has been closely working with for the last six years. 

“For me, chill time is an hour in the morning when I can get out with my dog in the park. The reason that Alex and I get along so well is because, fundamentally, our core values and beliefs and our introversion are very similar.

“Again, me and Alex, we laugh because we're probably two people who are in an environment that we're least suited to personality wise, but we work well together and we both recognise that.”

At the moment, Patrick is in Bahrain for the F1 season opening. Over the past 15 years, he has been working in professional sport. First as a physiotherapist, then as a performance coach.

With a strong background in contact-based sport, Patrick has previously worked in professional rugby and football, and he was the lead physiotherapist for Team GB’s Canoeing squad for the Rio 2016 Olympic cycle. 

His portfolio of athletes includes Michael Conlan, Tadasuke Makino and Josh Kelly. 

Described as an “exceptional physiotherapist” and not only a coach but a good friend, by those he has worked closest with, Patrick likes the unpredictability of his job. 

“That’s the bit that always keeps me interested, it’s never the same week on week. It changes and morphs and is very fluid based on Alex’s schedule and where we're at in the world and what he needs to achieve in any one given period of time,” he explains.

It might come as a surprise to some, but Patrick didn’t grow up religiously watching F1.

“I'm not going to lie and say I grew up watching Formula 1 because I didn't. My background is professional football and rugby. I've been to two Olympic Games with Team GB, professional boxing, professional golf,” he says. “An opportunity came up seven years ago to work in motorsport and that's how I started to work with Alex.”

He continues: “To be perfectly honest, the only reason I'm in Formula One is because of that relationship. So when there's all of the circus around us, you can see people getting caught up in it, that’s so far away from why I'm there that it brings a level of objectivity that I think is really beneficial, not just for me, but for Alex as well.”

Over the last couple of years, there has been a renewed interest for the motor racing competition. Perhaps, due to the release of the Netflix’s documentary series, ‘Formula 1: Drive to Survive’. 

What is something people might not expect about the behind the scenes? 

“We have 24 race scheduled this season. You see the garage on camera, and you see the engineers, the mechanics, the driver and  the performance coach, but actually that's only about 10 percent of the actual team itself. I think people really underestimate the logistics behind getting these races from one country to the next, week on week.

“It’s probably not so impressive from a sustainability perspective, but it’s pretty impressive from a logistics perspective. The work that goes into getting those cars on track is absolutely phenomenal, and the human power behind that blows my mind sometimes.”

This year, Patrick is also the academy performance lead for Williams Racing, where he works with a new generation of drivers who aspire to be the next Alex Albon. 

Speaking of his role, he says: “We have seven academy drivers across Formula 2, Formula 3, Formula Academy and karting. They're seven drivers who have dreams and aspirations of being Alex Albon, right? They're the ones dreaming of getting a seat on the grid at some point in their career.”

To make it, Patrick notes it’s important to focus on the present. 

“What’s really important is focusing on what your priorities are right now. It's very often about the little stuff, about how we can consistently train and improve, little by little, especially at those younger ages. You may have a dream of driving in F1 one day, but that dream doesn't happen unless you take care of what's happening right now.”

The performance coach has worked with athletes across an array of sports, from boxer to football to F1 driver. Does his approach differ from one to another? 

“I would say they're probably more similar than they are different. When you work across multiple sports, both squad and individual, you quickly start to get a picture of those athletes. The ones that aren't successful or don't actualise their potential versus the ones who do and become very successful at what they do, that clarity comes around,” he says.

According to Patrick, it’s all about the key characteristics each individual has to offer. 

“Obviously, technical abilities are a big component of being successful in sport, but I've seen athletes who are incredibly technically gifted, but their attitude and their characteristics in terms of their own personality and their connection to their sport ultimately mean they never reached that level of success that they could’ve. Versus athletes who maybe not have the same level of technical ability, but characteristics around commitment, work ethic and self awareness and accountability are there. When you start to understand what the characteristics are to be successful, you can start to integrate those with any athlete that you're working with.

“I can put Alex Albon and Michael Conlon in a room together, they couldn't be from more different environments, but they get on like a house on fire because what makes them successful at their sports, they can see in each other, and that's enough of a connection for them to be able to develop a relationship.”

The one lesson he has learned, perhaps at times the hard way, is that the dream job requires sacrifices.

“I've been in professional sport for over 15 years now, but I started working for free. I started working at the lowest level of sports, just accumulating as many hours as I possibly could. To get to the level that I'm at now required time and commitments. From time away from family and friends, missing birthdays and weddings and big moments in my personal life,” he explains. “But I always had that perception of it, it’s a key component of your journey if you want to get to the level that I'm working at right now.”

The one question he is tired of being asked is, ‘How do I get your job?’

“I get hundreds of messages on a weekly basis from people still in university and maybe a year or two out of university and just saying, ‘How do I get your job?’ and I really struggle with that question.

“I think with the new generation of practitioners coming through, there's maybe a little bit of a lack of awareness around what you will have to sacrifice or give up or what are the compromises you're going to have to make if you do want to work in professional sport.

“I'll always have the perspective that working in this environment at this level will always take that level of sacrifice, if you want it to be impactful."

Looking back, Patrick says he had a very happy childhood, growing up in The Rock - something he’s grateful for.

“I played every sport I possibly could. I was a typical country boy, with two older brothers and my parents were heavily involved in sport, it was always a really big component of our lives,” he recalls. 

“Some of my best friends in the world are still guys that I played football with when I was under 14. I had a very happy childhood, I feel very fortunate in that respect.”

Even though he likes his life in London, he misses the beauty of The Slieve Bloom. 

"In London, I miss the outdoor spaces the most, really. Laois just has a beautiful countryside, and having access to that on your doorstep, I think living there, you take it for granted."