He always wanted to be a mechanic – and is now looking forward to the prospect of working with Michael Schumacher. James Williams has spent the year of his life helping Jenson Button win the World Formula One championship.

And, as Schumacher rejoins the sport, he declared: “I am living the dream”. James, aged 31, who grew up in Perton, Bridgnorth and Claverley, near Wolverhampton, went to St Christophers Primary School in Codsall and then St Edmunds RC School in Compton.

He works as a design and development engineer for the Brawn GP F1 racing car team, based in Northamptonshire, which is being renamed Mercedes for the new season.

He is jointly responsible for gearbox internals and differential units. This includes being involved with other mechanical and hydraulic parts, solving reliability issues and concerns and helping to produce a state-of-the-art racing car.

James graduated from Cardiff University in 2000 with a 1st Class Honours Degree in Mechanical Engineering and initially worked for Xtrac Motorsport Transmissions, working on a wide variety cars including World Rally Cars, F1 cars, Touring Cars, NASCAR and the Le Mans winning Bentley racer in 2004.

In 2006, he joined Honda F1 Racing, working in its transmission design group, the year in which Jenson Button won his first ever F1 race. However, during 2007 and 2008 they did not have a competitive car and in December 2008 Honda decided to withdraw from F1 racing.

James says: “We were all faced with the prospect of losing our jobs. However, with the focus and direction provided by team principal Ross Brawn, we carried on throughout the winter, designing and manufacturing a chassis based around a new Mercedes engine.

“In March 2009 the team was re-branded Brawn GP and the car made its testing debut at a very cold Silverstone circuit. After a radical staff restructure at the company and many worrying times, this car ultimately led to the team winning both the constructors’ and driver’s championships.”

James is largely based in England but last season travelled to China with the team.

By Christine Dyer