Women at Panasonic Toyota Racing
Formula 1 is generally seen as a man’s world but that
is not so at Panasonic Toyota Racing, where women play a key
role behind the scenes in the team’s push for Grand
Prix glory.
Traditionally, the pit garages have been an exclusive club
for men, from mechanics working on the most high-tech racing
cars on earth and engineers pushing the boundaries of physics
to drivers enjoying the most intense motoring competition
in the world.
But that exclusivity is a thing of the past at Panasonic
Toyota Racing, which employs the very best people for the
job, whether they are male or female.
HR general manager Rob Leupen explains: “Ever since
I joined Toyota in 1995 women have been working at our organisation.
So they are a part of our culture and I don’t see anything
exceptional about it.”
Indeed, women have worked at Toyota since the very start
of the team’s Formula 1 project. In both technical and
administrative roles, women have played an important role
in Toyota’s rally success and the first female engineer
was employed at the Cologne factory back in the team’s
Le Mans days of the late 1990s.
Now, three managers within the team are women, in the PR,
HR and logistics departments, and of around 650 employees
at the Cologne headquarters, approximately 13% are female.
Regulars at our pre-season testing will have seen some of
the team female staff in action as they got down to the serious
business of extracting the maximum out of the TF107, whether
that is as data engineers or electrical engineers.
Fans may not see our female contingent much on television,
with the most visible members of the team being the drivers,
top management and pit stop crew, but that does not mean the
fruits of their labour are not on show.
Without Panasonic Toyota Racing’s female contingent,
the cars literally would not make it to the track.
Karin Gartner plays a key role in ensuring everything runs
smoothly for the team as the staff, cars and equipment fly
around the world for races and tests. That is no small task
when you consider a typical Formula 1 team travels around
160,000kms every year, racing and testing.
Karin says: “I very much like to work with both women
and men but in my department I prefer to have women on the
team. I find they are more flexible and do the job a bit more
accurately – which is very important to ensure all the
shipments come in and go out on time.”
Before Karin can even think about dispatching car parts around
the world, the team’s latest challenger needs to be
designed and that is where another pivotal figures step in.
Susana Ruiz is a designer in the engine department, doing
her bit to ensure Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher have the
power to succeed.
Susana says: “I enjoy my role not because I’m
a woman but because I’m respected as an equal member
of the team. There’s only positive feedback from my
colleagues.”
Once the car is designed, the team needs to know how it will
perform before it even gets to a circuit and that is where
Marion Franchini can help.
As a senior simulations engineer, she works on simulating
how a car will perform in various conditions, enabling the
rest of the engineering team to maximise its potential.
“There are clearly a lot of men working in Formula
1,” says Marion. “But I’m sure that F1 is
not strictly just for men!”
At the track, the entire team gives 100% to extract the maximum
possible performance from the TF107 cars. When it comes to
electronics, this is a key part of Margret Geisert’s
role as electronic track engineer.
Maggie admits: “We women do seem to be treated a bit
more politely at the start, and one or two did treat me more
like a lady to begin with. But they soon get used to you and
the effect becomes less.”
The very act of bringing staff into the team is the responsibility
of Dagmar Ziebell, who as recruiting manager is charged with
maintaining Panasonic Toyota Racing’s high standards
when it comes to the people who will take the team forward.
Dagmar explains: “As an organisation we have grown
very quickly and the amount of people we have is now a lot
bigger. But new people quickly feel integrated into the team,
the mentality to work for each other here is still very good
and we are very close to each other.”
Dagmar’s role is a crucial one, but one very much out
of the public gaze. That cannot be said for the responsibilities
facing Fernanda Villas-Boas as PR manager.
Fernanda and her team must keep the world’s media happy
by arranging interviews and photo opportunities so when the
team is in the public eye, she is usually not too far away.
As well as responding to the media, she looks for new ways
to increase interest in Panasonic Toyota Racing within the
media, gaining recognition for the hard-working team and increasing
the value for sponsors and partners.
Fernanda says: “In this team we are open for every
kind of good professional and it doesn’t matter whether
they are women or men. The workload means we don’t have
much time for family or friends and you need to see the team
exactly as it is, like a family.”
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