HANNAH SCHMITZ Champions Gender Inclusion While Strategizing Red Bull’s F1 Success

March 8, 2025

by Rebecca Clancy // from www.motorsport.com

• HANNAH SCHMITZ has evolved from someone who initially didn’t want her gender to define her career into a passionate advocate for diversity in F1. The Red Bull principal strategy engineer now co-chairs the company’s gender inclusion network and hosts webinars to showcase career opportunities for women who might not even know these roles exist in motorsport.
• Despite having no female role models when she started her Cambridge-educated engineering career, SCHMITZ now finds herself as the visible face many young girls look up to. Her inbox overflows with messages from aspiring female engineers seeking advice, and she emphasizes the unfortunate reality that women often need to go “the extra mile” – networking harder and being more persistent – to break into the industry.
• Balancing motherhood with one of F1’s most high-pressure roles, SCHMITZ has helped Red Bull develop more family-friendly policies that benefit all parents, not just mothers. She credits athletes like Allyson Felix as inspiration for returning to work after having children, proving that questioning whether women can maintain their careers post-motherhood shouldn’t even be part of the conversation.

diversity initiatives, formula one, oracle red bull racing, strategy engineering