By Mary Atkinson
“I was in the Williamson building in St. Mary’s. I remember looking out at that little piece of grass outside my room and [BBC newsreader] Sophie Raworth called me and said, ‘Oh, I’ll help you decide whether to go to City or Cardiff’… I always have a real memory of that bit of Durham in my room at Williamson that spoke to Sophie Raworth ” , Rosanna Tennant fondly remembers her time as a student in Durham. We discussed their journey from Durham to today in the run-up to the Hungarian Grand Prix in July, albeit via Zoom in a typical Covid-19 era.
Tennant studied French and Spanish at St. Mary’s College from 2006-2010 before going to the City University of London to study radio journalism, what they call “basically like we pretend we’re doing a radio show every week on TV and radio would”. a week, a TV show a week ”.
Today she presents and comments for Formula 1 and works at the annual Wimbledon championships. As a child she always wanted to be a newscaster and read the news for Purple Radio in Durham, which gave her a first real look at broadcast journalism.
Attributing work experience at Sky for her current career path, she said, “While I was on the sports desk, they said, ‘Oh, would you like to go with Jon Desborough (one of the presenters at the time) for a little day of filming? , he’s going to be interviewing Jenson Button and Sir Stirling Moss at … the Hilton on Park Lane … so I went along, watched Jon do his interview and presentation, and I thought, “This looks exactly how I’d like to do it . “.
Everything will be fine. Don’t worry, and even if you don’t get asked or put on a course or get a job you want, don’t worry.
But her way to present was not that easy. After graduating from the City, she worked in sponsorship sales for nine months before moving to the Oliver Sweeney shoe store in the areas of PR, marketing and communication.
This wasn’t where she thought she was going. “I remember when I started working in the shoe store in 2012, I thought, ‘Oh, that takes me off my path as a broadcast journalist and presenter.’ But actually it sounds a bit arrogant now, but you know I somehow got it to work. I was like waiting; How can I make the most of the situation? ”Her solution was to create a series where she interviewed friends of the brand and produced video content.
When asked how she would advise her younger self, she circled back on these experiences with an almost philosophical but relatable answer: “Everything will be fine. Don’t worry, and even if you aren’t asked, accepted into a course, or get a job you want, don’t worry because even if that doesn’t work out, most of the time it’s not the right thing … it sounds like it a bit clichéd, but something else will fill that void … I think Steve Jobs always says, ‘the dots all come together when you look backwards’ “.
Everything came together for Tennant when she entered the world of motorsport and presented Pole Position for the YouTube channel, in addition to working as a sports agency for the accounts of the Rolex and Mercedes F1 teams. She created all of the video content for the teams that “slowly moved to the point where I actually showcased their content in 2015” and hosted their hospitality suites.
This eventually led to working for Formula 1 himself. “At the end of 2016 I realized that hospitality hosting with Mercedes was probably not going to be an option again, so I got in touch with F1 and started working directly for F1 in 2017 and still doing things with the agency and Mercedes and Rolex. “
Tennant has been working in the Formula 1 paddock since she entered the world of motorsport. She jokingly compared the relationships that were established in the “busy” environment with Durham and said, “The strange thing is that we kind of call it the circus because it’s always the same people to all the different races go so you know everyone which is kind of weird to have coworkers who are not coworkers but are kind of coworkers. Because you know, I don’t necessarily work for Alpine or Ferrari, but still you’re in the same place the whole time … you can’t even walk a meter – it’s a bit like Durham – without seeing someone you know “.
You’re never at the top of the ladder
In 2020, she also became a commentator for F1TV. “It was an opportunity that just came because my lovely friend Alex Jacques got an opportunity on Channel 4, which left a huge void in our commentary setup in F1 on what we call the Pit Channel. F1 asked me if I would like to take on that role and I said yes because … why not try something new ”.
Although she had worked on previous events like the Henley Regatta (where Tennant could draw on her rowing experience in Durham), she described commenting as a new challenge. Their first race in the comment box, the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, was certainly not the easiest start. A race now infamous for one of the worst accidents in recent history, in which Romain Grosjean’s car caught fire on a first lap.
Tennant later led the first all-female F1 commentary team and remains one of the few female voices currently featured in F1 commentary. This may not come as a surprise given the sport’s male-dominated image.
However, Tennant and I both agreed that things are beginning to change. Formula 1 is becoming more diverse – “I have the feeling that the pendulum has swung”. She noted the strong female presence in the paddock in 2021: “I’m leading the comment for F1, we have a woman who hosts paddock club stuff, we have a woman who hosts track TV” and spoke positively of her own Experience. I’ve never experienced anything … I’ve never felt intimidated or worried. “
We made a hopeful outlook for the future that can be supported by initiatives like the W Series, the Hamilton Commission and the Girls on Track initiative from FIA and Motorsport UK, which Tennant is working with to train young girls.
She said coaching was one of the most Covid-19 affected areas of her job, along with the bizarre work from home, which for Tennant included interviews with drivers like seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton: “Suddenly start a zoom “And it said, ‘Lewis Hamilton is coming to Zoom’ … it was pretty weird because he would see where I was”.
When we talked about her career path, which has now spanned decades, it was evident, in addition to a visible love for her job, a deep appreciation for those who had helped her.
Regarding her favorite moments so far, she said, “I was really lucky enough to host the 2022 Formula 1 Car Show, which was awesome” and “In a year I was doing a lap at the Sepang International Circuit with Lewis Hamilton Malaysia. He drove me across the track and it was my job to interview him while we were driving around … I’ve really been pampered over the years. “
Tennant displayed an admirable demeanor throughout the interview that made it clear how she got to where she is today. “It was a tough transplant, but I still feel like I’m having a hard time moving on. It’s not like that, oh, brilliant, I work for you, I’m kind of finished … And I could imagine that it would go on forever for everyone, you are never at the top of the ladder. “
Image: Rosanna Tennant / Mario Renzi
