The Haas F1 Team has appointed the first-ever female F1 Race Engineer in a restructuring of their organization ahead of the new Formula 1 season. Former Performance Engineer Laura Mueller has been promoted to work alongside their new driver Esteban Ocon and is the first female engineer in F1 to take on the high-profile position.
The US-owned Haas team has also announced that Carine Cridelich will join the squad as Head of Strategy, while Ronan O’Hare will engineer F1 rookie Ollie Bearman. Last year, Haas revealed a new technical alliance with Toyota and will enter 2025 hoping to build on its seventh-place finish in the 2024 FIA Formula 1 Constructors’ World Championship.
Mueller’s position as Race Engineer is the latest in a series of appointments of females in high-profile positions within the sport. In 2012, Monisha Kaltenborn became the first female Team Principal in Formula 1, a role she held for five years, while Claire Williams ran the Williams F1 Team until her family sold the organization in 2020.
Haas are not the only team to announce personnel changes ahead of the new season. The Aston Martin F1 Team have also confirmed a change in management, with Andy Cowell taking over from Mike Krack as Team Principal. Krack will remain with the team in the position of Chief Trackside Officer.
