Craig Pearson meets A-list celebrities regularly on the grid in his job as a Formula One engineer - but it was one of his Wanderers heroes that had the Farnworth man most starstruck recently.

During the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, the electronics lead engineer was delighted to show recently-crowned Whites player-of-the-year, Conor Bradley, around his Haas F1 team’s garage.

And while he is used to seeing celebrities and movie stars like Will Smith and Brad Pitt on grids around the globe, Pearson said meeting the Liverpool loanee at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was a more memorable experience.

Pearson said: “Someone told me there was a football player here and when we found out it was Conor Bradley, I was asked to show him around because I’m a huge Wanderers fan.

The Bolton News: Craig Pearson and Conor Bradley

“I got to show Conor around the Haas garage and told him about what I do as an electronics engineer.

“It was pleasant, and he was interested, and he told me he got into F1 after watching Drive To Survive on Netflix.

“I have met the likes of Will Smith, Brad Pitt and Conor McGregor, but I was the happiest meeting a Wanderers player.”

While his job travelling around the world with F1 takes up a huge amount of his time, Pearson says he gets to watch Wanderers whenever he can during his downtime.

And even around the globe, he keeps in touch with how his beloved Whites fare each weekend.

He added: “I don’t get to watch the games as much now, but I follow it everywhere I go.

“I grew up supporting the team, so I have to follow them.

“I’ll always be a Wanderers fan no matter where I am.”

Now, during close season, Pearson - who once trained with David Beckham's Inter Miami as a perk of his job - is just solely focused on helping his Haas team succeed, with the next stop this weekend in Canada, at the Circuit Gillies Villanueve in Montreal.

He is looking forward to seeing the team through to the points, with drivers Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenburg hoping to make amends after a disastrous finish in Spain.

On his role as an engineer in the elite sport, he said: “My role is to make sure that the F1 cars are operating to correct electronics as well as built correctly and are legal in conforming with standards.”