Mar 11, 2021
Niamh Lewis
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This article is part of ESPN's coverage of Women's History Month.
Twelve years ago Chloe Targett-Adams joined Formula One as a corporate lawyer, and is now the sport's director of global race promotions. When she walked into the office for the first time, there were more women present than anywhere else she had worked, and it was the first time she had a female boss -- Sacha Woodward Hill, who joined F1 in 1996 as a general counsel.
"That was in a time when it [F1] was known to not have any women in it," Targett-Adams told ESPN. "It was a mixed perception even then.
"We know in the past there were female drivers, although sadly not for many, many years. Whether it's a female thing or not, there's not many of us in public facing roles, if any. I think that's always, for me, one of the most interesting things about Formula One.
"As much as there is still to do, there was a real base of women and that's something that is really important for us to remember. There are all these incredible women who really paved the way before us, whether that was from a commercial side and marketing and PR, legal or business, and even a bit on the engineering side and a little on the driving side so what that shows to me is F1 is not necessarily discriminatory against women.
"It's just that we've not done enough to really open up access and showcase women working in the sport that there always has been, that actually it is a really great place for women to work and to build a career."
But an ESPN survey can reveal the extent of the lack of women within the sport. Although 38% of Formula One Management's 569 employees are female, data from teams is substantially lower.
On the public-facing side (discounting grid girls, whose role in the sport was revised in 2018) there have been few women in the sport's 70-year history. The last woman to drive in a grand prix was almost half a century ago. Three women have been involved as development drivers within the last eight years but none have got further than a first practice session.
Other than drivers, only two women have managed teams, and neither are still working in the sport.
ESPN surveyed all 10 F1 teams on how many women are in senior roles within the team, and of the race team -- the core performance group who travel to grands prix -- what percentage are women:
Mercedes has the biggest workforce with around 1,000 employees. 117 of those are women, and 31% are in senior roles. In Mercedes' core race team of 65 people, four are women, and of a further 20 people working at the factory in the race support team, four are women (20%)
Haas, who are the smallest team on the grid -- a fraction of the size of Mercedes, employ 167 people, 15 of whom are women (9%)
McLaren have 66 people who regularly travel in the race team, five are women, and one woman is in a senior management role
Alfa Romeo said like all teams the size of the race team varies, but on average there are 51 people regularly travelling to races, of these five are women (9.8%). As for the F1 side of the company 13 women work in senior roles
Red Bull, Ferrari, and Williams did not respond to ESPN's survey. Aston Martin and Alpine said they were unable to provide the requested information, and Alpha Tauri said: "Whilst we do have a high level of females in senior roles here at the factory we don't have in the race team."
There are women who work as engineers, directors, in marketing and hospitality for teams and across the F1 business. The numbers are small, but they have important roles.
On Alfa Romeo's pitwall is senior strategy engineer Ruth Buscombe, who says although she was inspired by legendary F1 engineers Paddy Lowe and James Allison, a female engineering role model was missing.
"I think that was one thing I was really missing -- although there were women working in Formula One you couldn't see them, and it's very difficult to be what you can't see," Buscombe told ESPN.
"Rather embarrassingly, I went from wanting to be a princess to wanting to be a Formula One engineer, there was no happy middle. I always loved maths at school and enjoyed the problem solving part of it. When I realised you could do maths in sport and competition that was the coolest thing in the world for me. My focus then was doing the subjects that people who went into F1 did.
"I was very lucky that when I turned up to secondary school aged 11, my maths teacher's daughter was studying engineering at Cambridge and she was my hero -- I was like 'if she can do it then I can do it'. She went on to be a pilot and is a brilliant lady, she is maybe not as famous a name as James Allison, but Emily Todd was my inspiration."
Mercedes' wind tunnel technician Dr Kathryn Richards told ESPN her venture into studying STEM subjects, and subsequently F1, started when her aunt took her plane spotting at an airport. She was hooked, and her father took her to Silverstone in 1986 to watch a grand prix. The seed was planted and she went on to study aerospace engineering, and gained PHD in vehicle aerodynamics.
"I was a big fan of Michael Schumacher at the time," Richards says. "I wanted to go to the Benetton factory and see the wind tunnels. I wrote a letter and it was picked up by a guy called Willem Toet [Australian F1 aerodynamicist and now sales manager at Alfa Romeo] and he replied and said yes, come along and bring a guest."
As Richards comes towards her 16th year at Mercedes (formerly BAR-Honda when she joined), she says Toet's support when she was starting out as a student was key: "If it hadn't been for him I wouldn't be where I am today."
Women at work
Of the women ESPN interviewed, there were mixed responses on how aware they are of gender bias on a regular basis.
Steph Carlin, commercial manager of Formula Two team Carlin, told ESPN it just takes one comment to be reminded of inequality.
"For the majority of the time, it's a really rewarding job so I don't see myself as a woman in a male dominated industry, I just feel like most of the time I'm trying to do the best job I can," she said.
"We have 15 drivers at Carlin and that's different every year, and different driver managers, and then all of a sudden you're woken up with a bit of a jolt when somebody would prefer to speak to Trevor [Carlin, team founder] instead of me. It doesn't happen very often and most of the time I don't even think about being in a male-dominated environment but every so often, maybe once a year, there will just be somebody who would like to speak to Trevor because he's the person they feel they need to speak to and normally Trevor will say 'no Stephanie will deal with that.'
"It's only when you have conversations like this and you look around and how many other women are there at a management level in racing, it's still quite rare."
For Richards, being the only woman in her department and the only wind tunnel technician in the sport doesn't bother her. At Mercedes, she has a few aerodynamicists who are women for company. But she has inspired more women to study STEM subjects and taken on women for placements and work experience with the hope there will be more coming through.
"I'm quite used to it now actually, it doesn't really bother me," she says. "When I went through college there were women on my course so I've been quite used to it since an early age and I just accepted it straight away when I started. I've never had any problems, I get on well with guys, I'm almost like one of the guys and sometimes act as them as well but I don't have a problem.
"I've managed to get some young females in work experience. One of them wants to be a driver, another wants to be a mechanic. So in that perspective it's made a difference on some people's career paths."
Buscombe says it depends who you're surrounded by. "Certainly in Alfa [Romeo] it's definitely not a factor, when I was hired the team principal was a woman [Monisha Kalternborn who departed in 2017] so you can really see the environment there. They just want the best.
"I think there is [an unconscious bias]. I think if you asked everyone in F1 and their results were anonymous they probably would say as a result of their upbringing they have to challenge their own beliefs and their own perception of what makes an engineer.
"That's not necessarily just male, it goes for women, we all need to make sure we don't walk into a room with subconscious bias and create opinions about someone because of the way they look, the colour of the skin, what they believe or who they love, and it's a unanimous problem that all sports and companies have. It's only going to get better if everybody checks their privilege at the door and focuses on being aware of bias and once you're aware of it you have a chance to challenge it."
How important is a female driver?
How important is it to have a public-facing role model, like a driver? Targett-Adams says: "I think it's really important because the more visible females you have in Formula One, the more obvious it is for a young girl to show that that is something that's possible from any background that you don't think, 'oh, that's for other people'. And it's that it's about inspiring the next generation, isn't it? But also about creating those opportunities."
F1's director of marketing Ellie Norman told ESPN: "The most visible role is your driver and your team principles, but there are so many other roles, whether it is engineering or it's marketing, there are lots of strong female role models leading and driving a lot of the business in Formula One."
"We see more and more talented women in all roles throughout the paddock now. And in 2021 we have W Series joining so they're going to be at eight events across this year. The role that W Series can play in women joining that racing triangle, because one of the brilliant things about F1 where it's different to other sports is there isn't a women's team, so from a competition perspective, women have always been able to race against men and it comes down to: how good are you?"
How good are you, but also how much money do you have? Formula One is an exclusive sport and requires huge sums of money to compete.
"That in itself is a huge barrier for people of all backgrounds -- that needs to be addressed. Scholarship system for all talent," Carlin says.
"There's nothing wrong with transparency and honesty," Targett-Adams says. "No one is trying to hide away from anything. This is where we are and this is where we want to get to, so there's a good start. Let's not celebrate it [the lack of diversity], because you can always do better, but let's acknowledge it."
A variety of voices makes for better problem solving
Chadwick: We want to see more women in motorsport
Jamie Chadwick explains why W Series is vital to promote careers for women in motorsport.
Diversity is as much about representation as it is about sharing ideas. When people from different age-groups, genders, cultures, and socioeconomic backgrounds get together, there's a lot more people bringing a wider variety of skills and expertise which previously is unlikely to have been part of the discussion.
With that comes innovation and more problem solving, says Targett-Adams: "In F1 there's obviously a huge amount of engineers, so better problem solving is always going to be a good thing. Then from a business perspective, clearly you then can generate more growth through that so to me it's a win-win."
Going into her 10th season in the sport, Buscombe says the landscape of F1's talent has changed massively. When she started, there were no women on the pit wall. Now there are some, but she won't stop fighting for equality until there is at least 50%.
"The cars will go faster and the racing will be more exciting and the championship will be more technically brilliant and more entertaining to watch if we have the best person for the job in every single role, from technical to media, to mechanics to drivers, even though it's not going to be a quick fix," she says. "Trying to move forward to a place where we have more equal opportunities, inviting people in and getting the best candidates whoever that is is a really important process."
"It shouldn't be a numbers ticking exercise, because strategy is statistics -- I can say this with some level of professional skill. Statistically it's impossible that all the best candidates come from sub-sections of society. So we're going to have the best drivers, engineers, and the best sport if we take it from everywhere.
"Imagine how rubbish F1 would be without people like Lewis Hamilton racing, because of the colour of their skin and I hope in 20 years time or even sooner we are saying similar comments about women and people outside of Europe who don't have that opportunity from the grassroots level up."
Some of the sport's stakeholders are also looking for change. In June, F1 launched We Race As One which aimed to highlight inequality. Mercedes had a black livery across 2020 and launched Accelerate 25 -- a programme to become more diverse and inclusive, with at least 25% of new starters coming from under-represented backgrounds. There are other programmes: FIA Girls on Track, which recently opened the door for a spot in Ferrari's driver academy, as well as Formula Student, which encourages school children to take up STEM subjects.
Norman highlights a specific example of an unforeseen issue between genders where the governing body (FIA) can help level the playing field. "I remember Tatiana [Calderon, who drove in Formula Two for BWT Arden] talking to me about the brake pedal in F2 cars. Her foot size is smaller than a lot of her male competitors which meant that with the brake pedal being uniform across all of the cars, when she was pressing the brake pedal, it was pretty much her toes on the pedal instead of the ball of her foot. So there's less pressure going through that pedal. The team was able to work with the FIA to show that there is a physical difference here, which is detrimental to her ability."
Claire Williams told ESPN that before she left Williams, there was progress with training and the aim to eradicate unconscious bias and provide support that under-represented groups may need.
"I do think it's important that you have representation across every area of your team, or any industry in life," she says. "You do it because it's the right thing to do and it was so important to me and it's important to have those women in all different divisions because they are role models and they send a message to the next generation of girls who are looking at F1 as a potential workplace destination and if they see women in the sport, they will then feel it's ok for them to come into the sport."
Many people argue that in the pinnacle of motorsport, it's about finding the best person for the job rather than meeting quotas. The problem is the talent pool of skills-based roles among under-represented groups is small, and it's too early to track any progress from the initiatives. Change must come from the top of the sport at owner and governing body level down to the grassroots to increase interest and uptake. The women in today's roles have paved the way and are an inspiration to the next generation.
"The amount of women coming up through engineering as mechanics is so small compared to the amount of men," Carlin says. "In terms of the average applicant, we very rarely get applicants that are female and I really do think it's because the issue lies at the grassroots where school children are making options and decisions as to what route they're going to go down.
"It really does start in school and there's fewer girls making those decisions and taking those options than the boys. And in the same way, the mechanics that go on to do courses at college, the uptake of women at that point is so minute compared to men -- that's where the real issue lies and why I see so many few female applicants by the time you get to our stage."
Carlin adds it is a positive step that in 2021, people are having conversations on diversity that they were not having before. More can be done than putting stickers on racing cars, such as research and investment, and perhaps encouragement that women can be princesses and F1 engineers.
Additional reporting by Laurence Edmondson.
FAQs
The women who power F1: Engineers, mechanics and directors on their role in changing a man's world? ›
Ruth Buscombe (born 21 December 1989) is a British strategy engineer for the Alfa Romeo Racing Formula One team. A first class honours graduate of the University of Cambridge Department of Engineering, she began working in Formula One with Scuderia Ferrari at its headquarters in 2012 as a race strategist.
Who is the most important women in F1? ›| # | Name | Teams |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maria Teresa de Filippis | Maserati, Behra-Porsche |
| 2 | Lella Lombardi | March, RAM, Williams |
| 3 | Divina Galica | Surtees, Hesketh |
| 4 | Desiré Wilson | Williams |
...
| Diane Holl | |
|---|---|
| Born | 6 May 1964 Guildford, Surrey, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | University of South West in Plymouth |
| Occupation | Director of vehicle engineering |
Ruth Buscombe (born 21 December 1989) is a British strategy engineer for the Alfa Romeo Racing Formula One team. A first class honours graduate of the University of Cambridge Department of Engineering, she began working in Formula One with Scuderia Ferrari at its headquarters in 2012 as a race strategist.
What jobs do women have in F1? ›The last woman to drive in a grand prix was almost half a century ago. Three women have been involved as development drivers within the last eight years but none have got further than a first practice session. Other than drivers, only two women have managed teams, and neither are still working in the sport.
Can female F1 drivers compete with men? ›There are no rules preventing women from competing in Formula 1, but the current grid is exclusively male. In fact, a female driver hasn't competed in a grand prix since 1976. The one female driver with the closest links to a current F1 team is Jamie Chadwick.
Who is the female mechanic at Alpine F1? ›Ellie Williams is a Subassembly Coodinator at Alpine Formula 1 Team, working in the pitlane.
Are there any female F1 pit crew? ›MF1 Racing made a little bit of history at Silverstone by fielding the first female crew member to be directly involved in an F1 pit stop. The lady in question was ITV's Louise Goodman, who had the job of taking the left rear wheel off Tiago Monteiro's car at his first pit stop.
Who is the female engineer at Red Bull F1? ›Hannah Schmitz (born 1985) is a British engineer who is the first strategy engineer for the Austrian Formula One team Red Bull Racing.
Who is the woman engineer in Mercedes F1? ›Amelia Lewis (@the.
Who is the only woman to have scored in a Formula One race? ›
Maria Grazia "Lella" Lombardi (26 March 1941 – 3 March 1992) was an Italian racing driver who participated in 17 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix. Lombardi is one of two female drivers to qualify for Formula One and is the only female driver who scored points in Formula One.
Does F1 have a female division? ›There are no rules preventing women from competing in Formula 1, but the current grid is exclusively male. In fact, a female driver hasn't competed in a grand prix since 1976. The one female driver with the closest links to a current F1 team is Jamie Chadwick.
Who from F1 has a girlfriend? ›British F1 racer Alex Albon is currently dating Lily Muni, a professional golf player. The couple has been together since 2019, and often share posts about each other on social media. On Valentine's Day 2022, Albon shared a post celebrating his girlfriend, writing, "I want you to know how much I enjoy annoying you."
What is the gender ratio in F1? ›There has not been a woman driver in a Formula 1 race for more than 40 years. But that could be about to change. With about 40 percent of F1 fans now female, the motorsport industry is making a concerted effort to ensure that at least one of the 20 drivers on the grid is female.
Is F1 mixed gender? ›Formula 1 might be one of the few mixed-gender sports that still exist, but it's also one of the most sexist. First of all, it's important to know that there were women in F1. So, it's not like women have never participated in the sport.
How much does a Mercedes F1 engineer make? ›| Job Title | Salary |
|---|---|
| Engineer salaries - 7 salaries reported | £55,555/yr |
| Intern salaries - 7 salaries reported | £19,080/yr |
| Senior Aerodynamicist salaries - 6 salaries reported | £64,351/yr |
| Mechanical Engineer salaries - 6 salaries reported | £51,620/yr |
Pollock is determined to build a team that is 50% male and 50% female, a feat that is unheard of in the male-dominated world of Formula One. He told CNN Sport: "Our ambition is to deliver and build opportunities and pathways for women to get to the very top level inside motorsports."
Do F1 drivers get to keep their cars? ›Teams such as McLaren and Williams like to keep the cars they manufacture for themselves. Especially if the car is a title winner, it is rather common for the team to keep their cars at their factory displaying them as a matter of pride.
Who was the first female F1 driver? ›Maria Teresa de Filippis, the first-ever woman to race in an official Formula 1 grand prix, died on Saturday at the age of 89. De Filippis started three races in 1958, in Belgium, Portugal and Italy, and achieved a best finish of 10th place at Spa-Francorchamps.
How much do F1 pit crew get laid? ›| Personnel | Per Race | Annual Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Refueling Person | $5,000 | $350,000 |
| Tyre Changers | $5,000 | $350,000 |
| Tyre Carriers | $3,500 | $270,000 |
| Jack Men | $3,000 | $150,000 |
Which F1 team has the most female employees? ›
ESPN surveyed all 10 F1 teams on how many women are in senior roles within the team, and of the race team -- the core performance group who travel to grands prix -- what percentage are women: Mercedes has the biggest workforce with around 1,000 employees. 117 of those are women, and 31% are in senior roles.
What is the salary of a F1 pit crew? ›| Pit Crew Member | Per Race | Annual Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Crew Chief | $10,000 | $1 Million |
| Refueling Person | $5,000 | $350,000 |
| Tyre Changers | $5,000 | $350,000 |
| Tyre Carriers | $3,500 | $270,000 |
The salaries of F1 engineers can vary widely depending on their experience and level of expertise. Junior engineers may earn around $50,000 per year, while senior engineers can earn well over $100,000 per year. In some cases, top-level engineers may earn even more than this.
Who is the head of race engineering in F1? ›In 2022 Lambiase took over as Head of Race Engineering from Guillaume Rocquelin for Red Bull, while also retaining his role as race engineer for Verstappen.
Who is the blonde girl on f1 TV? ›Formula 1 TV Presenter
Rosanna Tennant is a television presenter and live event host.
Naomi Schiff (born 18 May 1994) is a Rwandan and Belgian racing driver and television presenter. She was born in Belgium, to a Belgian father and Rwandan mother, grew up in South Africa, and now lives in Paris, France.
How do Formula 1 drivers pee? ›There is no way to dress this up. They just let it go in their race suits! With some races lasting around two hours, if a driver has not been able to go before the race starts, then they will simply empty their bladders in their cockpits.
Who is the most successful female motorsport driver? ›Lella Lombardi is the most successful female driver F1 has ever seen. After promising results in the lower formulae, Lombardi entered the 1974 British Grand Prix in an outdated Brabham BT42, but failed to qualify.
What is the F1 all female academy? ›What is F1 Academy? F1 Academy was launched in November 2022 by Formula 1 and aims to prepare and develop female drivers to progress to higher levels of competition. The category is designed to "give more access to track time, racing and testing, as well as support with technical, physical, and mental preparations".
How do you get into F1 Academy? ›
The first step is to find out if F1 in Schools is active in your country by visiting our International section. From here you will be able to choose your country and be directed to the most relevant website to find all the details of how to get involved and how to register a team for the regional finals where you are.
How do F1 drivers meet their girlfriends? ›Finding your partner at Charity Events
All the major teams are backed by sponsors, and this also leads to charitable work being undertaken. If you're a single who would love to connect with one of the top F1 drivers, a good tip would be to keep an eye out for charity events.
Brazilian Kelly Piquet has been a couple with Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen since October 2020, but she is more than the girlfriend of.
Who is Hamilton model girlfriend? ›Lewis Hamilton and Camila Kendra
Apart from Nalu, the 7-time world champion has also been rumoured to be dating Camila Kendra. Kendra is a Dominican-born model but she has been raised in Miami. In 2021, the rumours of her dating Hamilton came to the surface after fans spotted a post on Kendra's social media.
A sex ratio below 100 means there is more females than males. A sex ratio of 100 means there are equal numbers of females and males. Qatar has the highest sex ratio, with three males per woman, followed by the United Arab Emirates, having 222 men per 100 women.
What is the gender ratio of babies? ›The 'natural' sex ratio at birth is around 105 boys per 100 girls (ranging from around 103 to 107 boys). In some countries, the sex ratio at birth is much more skewed than would occur naturally.
Which has the highest gender ratio? ›Kerala state has the highest sex ratio in India.
Which F1 driver is non binary? ›...
Alex Albon.
| Albon at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2021 | |
| Born | Alexander Albon Ansusinha 23 March 1996 London, England |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Thai |
The following year, Verstappen said women drivers “lack something when it comes to physical strength” and are “perhaps…more easily afraid in a racing car.” F1's then-CEO Bernie Ecclestone agreed in 2016 that women are “not physically” able to handle fast cars and said they would “not be taken seriously” in F1.
Can an American be in F1? ›There have been 58 Formula One drivers from the United States including two World Drivers' Championship winners, Mario Andretti and Phil Hill. Andretti is the most successful American Formula One driver having won 12 races, and only Eddie Cheever has started more Grands Prix.
Is it hard to get a job in F1? ›
Some professionals are hired based on their years of experience and knowledge, while others simply have practical skills, but in any case, one must work really hard to get in. For fans of Formula 1 who would like to work behind the scenes, there are a number of opportunities available for them.
What is the highest paid F1 engineer? ›| Annual Salary | Monthly Pay | |
|---|---|---|
| Top Earners | $170,000 | $14,166 |
| 75th Percentile | $129,500 | $10,791 |
| Average | $110,956 | $9,246 |
| 25th Percentile | $88,000 | $7,333 |
Salaries (and schedule) for the 2023 F1 season. Not all Formula One drivers are compensated equally, with salaries ranging from about $1 million to an impressive $55 million.
Who are the women anchors on F1? ›Rachel Brookes (The F1 Show host, reporter)
Brookes hosts The F1 Show and can also be found reporting on the biggest storylines developing across the world of Formula 1.
Maria Teresa de Filippis - motorsport's first female F1 Grand Prix driver - was born on this day in Naples, Italy in 1926.
Are there female F1 engineers? ›Dalia Ramos is a female engineer who is the Head of Build and Test for the BWT Alpine F1 team. Coming from a Mexican background, Ramos moved to England to pursue a master's degree in manufacturing engineering and management at the University of Nottingham.
Can a girl drive in F1? ›There are no rules preventing women from competing in Formula 1, but the current grid is exclusively male. In fact, a female driver hasn't competed in a grand prix since 1976.
What is the richest motorsport in the world? ›NASCAR is probably the best-known racing series in the United States, and the Indy 500 is known as the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing." But the most lucrative, popular motorsports series in the world is actually Formula One. Next: How Rich Are These Big-Name NASCAR Drivers?
Who is the most popular female racer? ›Arguably the most well-known female race car driver is Danica Patrick, who is the most successful female driver in both NASCAR and Indycar history.
Who is the blonde girl on F1 TV? ›Formula 1 TV Presenter
Rosanna Tennant is a television presenter and live event host.
Who is the female staff at Red Bull F1? ›
Hannah Schmitz is Red Bull's principal strategy engineer, while Rosie Wait is head of strategy at Mercedes. Schmitz and Wait are key figures of their respective F1 teams and will no doubt play an integral role in whether Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton or George Russell is world champion at the end of F1 2023.
How many female F1 fans are there? ›In November last year, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said that approximately 40% of global F1 fans are now female, up 8% from 2017.