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Head of strategy Red Bull: "Hopefully I've overcome everything now"

23 June 2022 at 15:44
Last update 23 June 2022 at 16:36
  • GPblog.com

June 23 is International Women in Engineering Day and Red Bull Racing held a Q&A with Principal Strategy Engineer Hannah Schmitz, who was responsible for, among other things, the strategy that led to Sergio Perez's victory at Monaco in late May.

Building trust

Schmitz admits in the Q&A with Red Bull that it brought additional challenges when she started at Red Bull some thirteen years ago. "Hopefully I've overcome everything now. I would say I've never had any particularly bad experiences, but I think there are a lot of people that maybe don't have the confidence in you to do a job," she reveals.

"As a strategist, you have got to tell people what to do, and they've got to listen to you. It's building up that trust. Unfortunately, as a woman that was harder. Now I am there I have got the respect and everything," Schmitz says. The British engineer hopes to welcome more women into the sport soon and also hopes for more diversity.

Important in Monaco

As a strategist, Schmitz was at the Monaco Grand Prix. While Ferrari fumbled with their strategy, Schmitz got everything right. Perez managed to climb to first position and Verstappen moved up to P3. Ferrari, on the other hand, seemed to be forfeiting a certain victory.