I’m a female F1 mechanic – men told me I should stay in the office but now I’m working my dream job
A FEMALE F1 engine mechanic has risen through the ranks in the motorsport industry – despite men telling her she would never make it.Emmie Jones was told she “belonged over the road in the offices instead” when she handed her CV into a local garage at the start of her career.
Rosie Wait, Head of Race Strategy for Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team manages nine people who decide when a race-car should stop for a pit stopCredit: YouTube/Institute of Mechanical Engineers
But the motorsport enthusiast has proven them wrong and is now working on the 2026 Red Bull engine.
She told the BBC: “I got started by finding my love for motorsport with my parents and my brothers down at the local racetrack.
“Then I worked in the garage with my dad and I always knew that I wanted to be a mechanic.
“I’ve got quite a persistent mother who said if I was going to do it, then I should do it at the top level.”
Emmie offered some advice for girls who wish to make it in the motorsport industry, and claimed as long as you have a passion for F1 the job will be easy.
“I’ve been in Formula 1 for five years and it is everything I expected and more. It is just so enjoyable, it is like its own little family,” she added.
One aspiring mechanic, Abbie McMurry, has dreamed about an F1 career since she began watching it in her childhood.
“When I first wanted to try to get into this it was all “unknown” and [I] worried about whether [I] would fit in.”
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“It was hard to imaging being here.”
She said there was no denying the industry was “male dominated”, even down to the tools people use.
“There have been physical challenges I’ve come across – such as tools that are clearly made for an average man when I am quite a small girl”, she said.
But thankfully Abbie said the F1 world has become a lot more accessible for everyone, including women.
She is now working as a trainee with the Mercedes F1 team and the goal is to become a full-time trackside employee.
Rosie Wait has also witnessed changes in the “male dominated” industry first hand since she began her career in 2008.
The engineer has worked her way up to become the head of strategy at Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 and manages a team of nine people.
And now, she said the job is a lot more flexible for female employees.
“It is great to see so many more coming through, both in terms of the graduate intake and when you look down the pit lane”, she explained.
Rosie has earned herself a high pressure and well respected position, heading a group of people who decide when a race-car should stop for a pit stop.
She said: “During a race you really get those periods when the adrenaline is pumping and you can tell that a certain decision will be make or break – that’s very exciting, it can be pretty scary.
“There’s no such thing as being ‘done’ in Formula 1,.
“There’s always more that you could be doing.”
When she returned from maternity leave two years ago she was able to return to an equal role.
However, she still feels there is a pressure on women to compromise their job when they have a family.
“I’ve been able to do that alongside my caring responsibilities,” she says. “My husband is a doctor which means his job is very uncompromising.
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“If something comes up, then I am the one who has to compromise and leave work. I hope that becomes more normal in the industry both for the women and the men.
“You can have both a career and a family and be actively involved in both. It is tough, it is tough for anybody, but it really is working.” More
