Laura Mueller has made history, becoming the first-ever female race engineer in Formula 1.
The 33-year-old German will step into one of the most high-profile trackside roles, after being promoted by Haas to the role ahead of the 2025 season.
Mueller will work closely with new recruit Esteban Ocon and be the voice in his ear during races.
Speaking about Mueller’s character, team principal Ayao Komatsu said, “She’s a pretty determined character,”
“She’s very hardworking. Her work ethic is really, really good.
“She’s going to be Esteban’s Race Engineer. In terms of personality, Esteban is a pretty determined character. So that side, I think the driving force, I think that personality matches pretty well.
“And then what she’s really good at is, when she sees a problem, she digs deep, and she doesn’t stop at the first answer. Some people, when they find the answer, the first answer, they stop there. They think, ‘Oh, great, I found the solution, move on’.
“She has a good work ethic such that when she finds the first solution, she knows that there’s 10 things, now you’ve got new questions to answer.
“Her determination is the one that impresses me the most.”
He added: “If you look at how many female engineers we have in the office, it’s definitely more than before. But it’s not like I chose Laura because she’s female.
“We don’t care [about] nationality, gender – it really doesn’t matter because what matters is work. How you can fit into the team, how you can maximise the performance. I believe it is the right choice.”
Mueller dreamt of being an F1 driver when she was young, and got her start in the industry as an intern at Phoenix Racing, where she focused on data and driver analysis while assisting the race engineer. She has stepped into the role of performance engineer for several drivers over the past three years.
Now, she has been promoted by Haas as the first-ever, full-time female to take on the high-profile position of Race Engineer.
Haas finished seventh in the constructors’ championship last year, their best finish since 2018, and they are looking to continue to build momentum in 2025, with a new line-up that features Esteban Ocon and Ferrari junior Ollie Bearman.
