F1
Who is Laura Mueller, Esteban Ocon's new race engineer?
Esteban Ocon in discussion with Laura Mueller © Florent Gooden / DPPI
Esteban Ocon had announced it at the microphone of Canal + on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, after the announcement of his non-participation with Alpine, he was looking forward to working with his new race engineer during the post-season tests: Laura Mueller. It's done, the Frenchman has joined the clan Haas for the Pirelli tests, the opportunity to begin his collaboration with the whole team.
The German, who until now held the position of performance engineer within the American team, becomes the first woman to be promoted to this role in the history of the Formula 1This promotion is part of Haas' desire to promote women in this sector, and more particularly in the premier category of motorsport, by taking advantage, for example, of the International Day of Women Engineers.
A model to follow
Laura Mueller denounced in 2023 in a German media, the Frankfurter Allgemeine, the persistence of misogynistic culture in motorsports and some abusive behaviors of which she may have been a victim. Despite this, Esteban Ocon's race engineer recalls that "When you ask women 'what's the worst thing you've ever experienced in motorsport', they never tell the truth. Because no one wants to hear the truth." Which could also slow down the vocations of new female talents.
The German engineer is part of the minority of women in the technical teams of the stables. With Hannah Schmitz (senior race strategist for Red Bull Racing), Margarita Torres Díez (Chief Engineer of F1 Power Units at Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains), Bernadette Collins (Head of Racing Strategy at Aston Martin) or Julie Coulter (project engineer for engine systems and electricity within the team) McLaren), Laura Mueller embodies this awareness and this desire to integrate more diversity into motorsport.
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Patrick
12/12/2024 at 08:30 a.m.
I just gave Yves Henri and Yagga a thumbs up! Thank you Thank you Thank you all.
Yves-Henri RANDIER
12/12/2024 at 11:33 a.m.
The article would have been interesting if it had mentioned her training and her professional background which allowed her to be the first woman in such a position.
Yagga
12/12/2024 at 11:02 a.m.
So... who is she? Because apart from being the first woman in this position, we learn nothing about her with this article! What is her training, her career, etc... It's a shame to give a misleading title, it would have been interesting to know precisely, not just limit her to "first woman to hold this position"