History has been made in Formula 1 by the Haas F1 team. They have officially appointed their female engineer Laura Muller as the official race engineer for Esteban Ocon for the 2025 season. She will be the first female to lead a driver during races. With this, Haas F1 sets the real example of gender equality in a male-dominated sport. Even traditional teams like Ferrari, McLaren, and Mercedes haven't appointed a female race engineer in all these years.
The American Formula 1 team will take pride in scripting history that no other team has done in the sport. Race engineers are the immediate responders and instructors for the F1 drivers. They are the bridge of communication between the team and the driver. For many drivers like Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, and Carlos Sainz, race engineers are almost like their family. Even during Hamilton’s exit from the Mercedes team, he was seen crying with his race engineer, Peter Bonnington.
First Female to take on the Radio
The radio message during the live streaming was the race engineer speaking to the drivers and vice versa. For the 2025 season, Esteban Ocon will exchange radio messages with his new race engineer, Laura Mueller. She will be the second female who will take the lead role this year, as Racing Bulls, the sister team of Red Bull, has already appointed Carine Cridelich as their head of strategy. But Laura will still be the first female race engineer in Formula 1.
Haas F1 team principal Ayao Komatsu said: “Her work ethic, determination, and technical understanding are very good, so we believe that she’s the right fit for Esteban.” After the Japanese veteran took over the team from Guenther Steiner as principal, the team changed drastically and made huge progress in the 2024 season. Haas F1 finished last in the 2023 season but in 2024 they started fighting for 6th place against Alpine and ended 7th in the constructors. Only Pierre Gasly and the Brazilian Grand Prix double podium helped the French team finish 6th last year.
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Komatsu brought a good team culture and coordination within the team. It was clearly visible in their race strategy and drivers' performance. Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen have been the biggest rivals all these years but after coming to Haas F1, they became very close friends and started working together. Magnussen tried hard to help Hulkenberg finish ahead of Gasly in the final Abu Dhabi race in 2024. That shows how much the team culture has changed the two drivers' relationship.
The team will have a new driver lineup of Esteban Ocon and Olliver Bearman. Laura was appointed for Esteban and Ronan O’Hare will take charge of Bearman. The team showed great progress last year and for the 2025 season, the expectations for them are even higher. Haas F1 is a sleeping giant and could wake up any time.
Also read: Decoding Ferrari’s hidden message to Lewis Hamilton: What's behind the 8th door?
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