Women in the world of motorsports are proving that they have the speed, skill, and determination to compete on the track and work behind the scenes by break barriers. In the U.S., NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) and the Indianapolis 500 are both the most popular motorsports that many watch.
Formula 1 and IndyCar don’t fall too far behind. Formula 1 is currently a growing sport in the U.S.; their races are held in Miami, Florida; Austin, Texas; and Las Vegas, Nevada. IndyCar is U.S-based, but the viewership has low numbers.
In the sport’s 75-year history, Formula 1 had its first female race engineer who was just recently promoted. In NASCAR, after Danica Patrick ended her 9-year long career; Katherine Legge was the first woman to drive in the Cup Series. There are also women that have been a part of the Indianapolis 500.Â
F1 Miami GP mentioned how Laura Muller, a former performance engineer, was promoted back in February of this year to become the first female F1 Race Engineer for the Haas F1 Team. She is currently working alongside Esteban Ocon in the 2025 F1 season. “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.” revealed Haas Team Principal Ayao Komatsu.Â
Laura Muller and Carine Cridelich are both a part of the Haas Team. Carine Cridelich was part of the Red Bull’s Racing Bulls team before leaving and going to Haas Team becoming the Head of Strategy.
In the world of NASCAR, Katherine Legge was able to race in the Cup Series for the first time. She is the first woman to drive in the series after Danica Patrick, another famous women driver, had ended her 9-year career at the 2018 Daytona 500.Â
Legge isn’t a stranger to the world of motorsport; she has driven IMSA sports cars, IndyCars, Champ Cars, Formula E electric cars, German touring cars, and NASCAR Xfinity Series. In 2005, she was even a test driver for Formula 1 for the Team Minardi.Â
If you want to learn more, Neil Paine’s Substack article digs deeper into Katherine’s story and how it has affected her, especially the expectations. I personally enjoyed reading Katherine’s story, specifically about the pressure that she has due to basically stepping into the world after Danica ended her career.Â
In the Indianapolis 500, since 1977, nine women have participated in the sport. It all began with one woman, Janet Guthrie. Since then many women throughout the years have been a part of the world of Indianapolis 500. Indianapolis Motor Speedway offers a list along with information of each female driver.
Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team dropped a video on their Youtube channel celebrating International Women’s Day a week ago. In the video, they amplify some of the voices of incredible women that are a part of their team.Â
The Formula 1 article features an extensive list of the fearless racers and engineer masterminds that influence the world of F1 in every decade. I really enjoyed reading this article because it gave interesting insight on each woman and their contribution to the teams that they were and continue to still be a part of.
The world of motorsports continues to grow each year and many more women join, whether it’s racing or working behind the scenes. These women that have been able to break stereotypes are also the ones that continue to influence many generations of women that dream of working for sports teams.
Do you dream of someday working for or working behind the scenes for any sports team? Let us know @HerCampusSJSU, we can’t wait to hear from you!