Motorsport: 'I was the only female in the room'

Getting a racing driver onto the Formula 1 grid takes an army of up to 2,000 people. However, only 10% of these are women. While young girls may perceive motorsport to be male dominated, is the industry on track to become more balanced and show young girls what is possible?

With its headquarters in Hethel, near Wymondham in Norfolk, sports car manufacturer Lotus has opened its doors to let a new generation of aspiring motorsport speak with people inside the industry.

The company was founded in the early 1950s by engineer Colin Chapman and moved to Norfolk in the 1960s.

The two-day event, held by Girls on Track by Motorsport UK, aimed to help girls and women to see the variety of opportunities "regardless of interests, race and gender".

Sheena Valentina has worked at Lotus for four years and hails it as an "amazing job".

However, she knows the motorsport and automation industries are male-dominated.

"We are trying to get to a point where females feel comfortable here. I think we are 100% getting there.

"The gender pay gap for the Lotus group is 0.01% now, which is something we can be really proud of."

She said the car manufacturer is trying to "push boundaries" and she hopes to see an industry that is equal for everyone.

"I was aware that I was the only female in the room a lot of the time."

She hopes to show other young girls, including her daughter what is possible.

For 11-year-old Harriet, having a dad involved in the industry, meant she "really wanted" to come and tour Lotus.

"I like seeing the cars go really fast across the race track," she said.

And if she could have a career in motorsport, she said she would want to be behind the wheel, driving one of the race cars.

Emily, 11, said she would rather be behind the scenes, working on building the cars.

She said: "I think the building of the car is the most important. There wouldn't be racing without the builders.

"I think it's more likely for males to go into it [the industry] but I think women should be starting to go into it a lot more."

Jenny Fletcher, from Motorsport UK, said giving young girls opportunities to open their eyes to how they could be a part of the industry was important.

She said: "You have to see it to believe that you can be it. Getting those girls in from a young age to get in and experience the job roles is so crucial."

Girls on Track has been running programmes and events for the past 10 years.

"It's really about trying to showcase that it's a great industry to work in. There is a job for everybody. We obviously need a big number of STEM roles, engineers and mechanics... there's everything," Ms Fletcher added.

"You think about one Formula 1 team and there's two drivers and 1,500 to 2,000 people working behind the scenes to build that car, to get the car and the drivers ready for racing."

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