How to get into motorsport - International Women in Engineering Day 2025

To celebrate International Women in Engineering Day, hosts Nicola Hume and Tommo McCluskey are joined by Red Bull Academy Programme Manager, Sarah Harrington, and Trackside Controls Engineer for Red Bull Racing, Ainhoa Begiristain. 

Sarah and Ainhoa shed light on what it’s like to work behind the scenes in Oracle Red Bull Racing, from the thousands of ways to program a steering wheel to the work done to speed up a drivers’ reaction time at the start of the race. Sarah shares her path to working in the F1 academy, and how she looks to the future, as well as highlighting the unique challenges of scouting. And Ainhoa discusses her role, and how she made it to the control room trackside to be a key part of the race day operation. There are also a bunch of questions from the Paddock, on everything from drivers’ nutrition to the role of AI.

And finally, Sarah and Ainhoa share their tips for women wanting to work in motorsport, and they highlight that diversity of background, opinion, and approach is always a strength in the team.