Author: Maddie Walker

Why are women in Formula 1 still being sidelined?

Formula 1 is built on being the fastest sport in the world, with cars hitting 200 miles per hour and pit stops lasting only two seconds but yet is crawling when it comes to gender equality behind the pit wall. While millions of fans focus on the 20 drivers on the starting grid, another race is going on -in the garages, strategy rooms and control centres. In a 2023 study, just 6% of employees at Red Bull Racing were women, and only 4 out of 65 Mercedes track-side team being female. In a sport obsessed on progressing quicker than the others, its workforce demographic tells another story.

The gender gap behind the pit wall begins way before the starting grid, it starts in the classroom. The current problem F1 faces is the lack of women in the pipeline, an issue that stems from social stigma and lack of encouragement throughout women and girls’ education. Fewer girls are encouraged to go down the STEM route (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths), leading to fewer qualified women to work in places like the F1 paddock.

The issue is not because girls aren’t interested in STEM, but rather a crisis of confidence and social stigma around girls. While 75% of schoolgirls say they are in fact interested in STEM, but 27% worry they won’t be good enough to make it. This lack of self belief dissuades girls to pursue higher education in engineering roles, reducing an already limited talent pool to choose form to work in the paddock. As one source said, “if girls aren’t encouraged to build or code cars at school, they won’t work in the paddock” demonstrating the increasing need for school girls to have access to the education that boys do, allowing them to have access to STEM activities early on in their schooling career.

Even with new school curriculum reforms and efforts to tackle social stigma, inequality still exists within the education system, whether it’s unconscious bias or systematic barriers – with only 9% of engineering and technology A Level studies being female. Even outside of F1, the engineering and technology workforce is also incredibly hard to break into for women, with only 16.9% of the UK workforce being female, making it incredibly difficult for women to make it into a high profile and competitive sport like F1, where experience is everything and more.  

As Susie Wolff said, “We are going to have to go through generations of change before we see the impact of females taking a role in the workplace and Formula 1 is no different”, demonstrating the need for girls to be exposed to STEM opportunities and education early on, especially between years 7-9 so they can make educated choices for their GCSEs and A Levels to prevent potential engineers and F1 engineers slipping through the gaps.

Even when women break into the industry, staying there is just as big of a battle. Motorsport’s hyper-competitive and male dominated culture often creates an unwelcoming environment that pushes women out, rather than helping them rise. With 69% of F1 employees being male in a 2023 study, the sport is hard to fit in to as a woman, with the space still perceived as a male space. This perception brings unconscious bias, everyday sexism and social stigma into the workplace, with a 2022 report showing that 65% of women in motorsport experienced workplace bias. These factors all have negative impacts on women working with the industry, making them question if they fit in or deserve a place there, especially against the background of current stereotypes around female fans and women working in motorsport.

Due to this environment, being a woman in the industry can feel isolating, to the point where it’s not just about getting in, but about belonging once you do. Many women who work(ed) in the sport cited “not fitting in” as the key barrier to progression in their careers. As a female engineer with motorsport background reflected, “You go in there thinking ‘Am I good enough? Should I be here?”‘.  This sense of belonging is further challenged by the people of power and authority in F1 teams that sometimes make women in the sport feel out of place and uncomfortable, with the most recent example being Christian Horner, former CEO of Red Bull Racing. Horner recently stepped down, following allegations of inappropriate conduct towards a female colleague, reinforcing the gender inequality behind the pit wall.

Although this is rare, the male dominance in the paddock remains systemic, it is still very present in societal beliefs around women in F1. As Bernie Collins addressed, “Outside when you speak to people in the pub or whatever, there will be someone saying that’s an unusual role for a girl” when referring to women working in the sport. These societal attitudes are slow to shift, showing how the retention of women in motorsport is just as critical a problem as the pipeline.

These social barriers aren’t just specific to the paddock, they’re in society – and they’re reinforced every time coverage sidelines the women who are already in the sport. Every shot, every story, every headline shapes who fans picture when they think to F1 and working in F1, most of the time, it’s not women.

This (lack of) representation matters, because without any female figures to girls to look up to, the pipeline and retention problem will only deepen. The teams and drivers’ success isn’t  just about a fast car and an extremely talented driver, but the female strategists, the female performance engineers, the female aero specialists working behind the scenes – yet are they ever seen on camera or in interviews? Can you name a woman working in the pit wall off the top of your head like you can with Will Joseph or Peter Bennington?

With 41% of the sport’s fanbase being women, it’s clear why they aren’t pursuing jobs in F1 when you rarely see any female figures to look up to on your Sky Sports stream. Bernie Collins acknowledged this when saying “It’s so important to just see other people do it and see other people do it well. To see us on the pit wall and say, ‘you know I could do that, why not’”, highlighting the power role models for young female fans of the sport who wish to work in it.

Even outside of the role of the media, this lack of representation is apparent on the podiums after a race – with the representative of the winning constructor almost always being male. When girls watch their favourite sport and only ever see men on that podium, or always see male strategists being interviewed, or always see articles around male success, it’s hard for them to imagine a role in that sport.

This issue needs to be addressed sooner rather than later, or the lack of visibility will become just as big of a problem as the pipeline and male-dominated culture of motorsport.

Progress may be slow, but it is happening – and the rise of female talent is proof, with a new generation of women changing the face of motorsport: from fans in the stands to journalists in the media, from working in the paddock to drivers on the grid itself. Laura Mueller is a standout example that is inspiring the new generation by becoming the race engineer for Haas, making her the first female race engineer in the history of the sport. Mueller’s presence on the pit wall gives young girls of this generation a figure to look up to, to show that it is possible to work in motorsport as a woman, something that older generations lacked.

The shift isn’t just occurring in engineering roles, but also for girls hoping to make it to the grid. At a driver level, Susie Wolff’s project of F1 Academy allows young female drivers to prove their worth and earn a fully funded season in the next level of motor racing, creating a clear pathway to potentially finding a seat in Formula 1 itself. As well as this, programmes like Girls on and the McLaren all female STEM initiative that was founded in May 2023 are all working to build a more inclusive and encouraging pipeline.

These are all promising signs that the sport is moving towards an equal workplace, finally catching up to its diverse fan base. However, while these programmes are important, it’s only the beginning. Real change needs to happen fast, to ensure that more women and girls don’t fall through the cracks of the Formula 1 ecosystem; change that makes sure women aren’t just welcomed into the sport but championed at every level of the Formula 1 industry.

Change in Formula 1 won’t happen overnight, and it won’t just happen by itself, but it is possible. From the classroom to the paddock, the way women are represented to the opportunities that are created, the barriers are slowly being broken down. But progress can’t just rely on a handful of role models or few programmes here and there, it needs to be the standard, not the exception. Formula 1 and its governing body the FIA has to look at its audience and recognise that is has a responsibility to make sure that young girls see themselves as part of it, whether it’s on the pit wall, in the garage, behind the wheel or part of the media team itself. Because the truth is, talent doesn’t have a gender, but in Formula 1 – it seems that opportunity does.