Laura Mueller

Laura Müller is a German race engineer who made Formula 1 history in 2025 as the sport’s first full-time female race engineer, working with driver Esteban Ocon at Haas F1 Team.

EARLY YEARS

Born in 1991 or 1992 near Lake Constance, Germany, Müller grew up as a devoted Formula 1 fan—”cliché, I’m German and I love Michael Schumacher,” she’s said. Like many kids who worshipped the seven-time world champion, her childhood dream was to become an F1 driver herself. But here’s where her story takes a turn: at school, she had zero interest in physics. Her favorite subjects were German, English, math, Italian, and history. Not exactly the typical recipe for a motorsport career.

Everything changed during a gap year in Australia, where she became immersed in the country’s thriving supercharger car culture. That experience lit the motorsport fire, and suddenly engineering—not driving—became the path forward. She enrolled at the Technical University of Munich, earning both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in automotive engineering. It was during her master’s program, about a decade ago, that Müller’s motorsport career truly began to take shape.

OTHER INTERESTS

Information about Müller’s hobbies and interests outside of motorsport is not available in the research provided.

EARLY SUCCESS

Müller started at the bottom—and she was fine with that. In 2014, she began as an analysis intern at Phoenix Racing GmbH, learning the ropes and proving she could handle the grind. From there, she worked her way through a who’s-who of junior racing series: Formula Renault 2.0 with Josef Kaufmann Racing, Stock Car Brasil, and eventually into the world of endurance racing.

Her endurance racing career included stints in Formula Renault 2.0, LMP2, and LMP3. She worked as a race engineer with DragonSpeed in the European Le Mans Series in 2020, and also had a one-race stint with DKR Engineering in LMP3 at Paul Ricard for the Le Mans Cup Race. She spent nearly four years working in LMP2 before returning to JS Engineering BVBA as a data and performance engineer for three years starting in 2021.

A particularly notable chapter came when she served as race engineer for German driver Sophia Flörsch at Abt in DTM—a pairing that showcased female power on both sides of the garage, with Müller, Flörsch, and team manager Maike Frik all working together.

In 2022, Müller joined Haas F1 Team, initially working in the team’s simulator before progressing to the role of performance engineer. It was the breakthrough she’d been working toward for years—a foot in the door of the pinnacle of motorsport.

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

• 2014: Began motorsport career as analysis intern at Phoenix Racing GmbH[1].
• 2020: Served as race engineer for DragonSpeed in European Le Mans Series[2].
• 2022: Joined Haas F1 Team as performance engineer[3].
• 2025: Promoted to race engineer for Esteban Ocon, becoming Formula 1’s first full-time female race engineer in the sport’s 75-year history[4].

INSPIRATIONS

Müller has been refreshingly candid about her childhood hero: Michael Schumacher. As a young German girl watching Formula 1, she was captivated by Schumacher’s dominance and charisma. That fandom fueled her early dream of becoming a driver, though she eventually pivoted to engineering—a decision that ultimately led her to make history in a different way.

REPUTATION

Team principal Ayao Komatsu has praised Müller’s relentless work ethic and problem-solving approach: “When she finds the first solution, she knows that there’s 10 things, now you’ve got new questions to answer.” That tenacity helped her earn the promotion from performance engineer to race engineer—a massive leap in responsibility.

Müller herself has been thoughtful about what her appointment represents. On International Women’s Day, she told Haas: “It’s actually quite sad” that it took until 2025 for a woman to hold this position in F1. She’s right—it is sad. But she’s also not dwelling on it. Her focus is on the work, on building a strong relationship with Ocon, and on proving that gender has nothing to do with your ability to read data, make split-second calls, and help a driver extract every tenth of a second from a car.

The 33-year-old engineer is described as someone who doesn’t settle for easy answers and who constantly pushes for deeper understanding. In a sport obsessed with marginal gains, that’s exactly the mindset you need.

FUTURE GOALS/PLANS

Müller’s immediate focus is solidifying her partnership with Esteban Ocon at Haas. The 2025 season marked a year of firsts for both: Ocon’s first season with Haas, and Müller’s first season as a race engineer. The duo has been working to build the trust and communication that defines successful driver-engineer relationships. Beyond the immediate season, Müller’s trajectory suggests she’s not just breaking barriers—she’s settling in for the long haul, determined to prove that her historic appointment is about merit, not milestones.

REFERENCES

Laura Müller (motorsport) – Wikipedia
Getting to Know: Laura Müller – Salracing
Laura Muller: Breaking Barriers as Formula 1’s First Female Race Engineer – Mane
Race Engineer Laura Mueller Makes F1 History with Haas – Autoweek
Meet Formula 1’s First Female Race Engineer, Laura Müller of the MoneyGram Haas F1 Team – Design News
Mueller becomes F1’s first female Race Engineer at Haas – Formula 1
Why Haas sees Laura Muller as a perfect F1 race engineer for Ocon – Motorsport.com
Female power in DTM: Sophia Flörsch to race with ABT and Schaeffler – DTM
Mueller, on being F1’s first female race engineer: ‘It’s actually quite sad’ – GPBlog
Laura Müller Makes History as the First Female Race Engineer in Formula 1 – Females in Motorsport
Haas F1’s Laura Mueller Becomes 1st Full-Time Female Race Engineer in Sports History – Bleacher Report