Exclusive interivew with Leena Gade

The closest we’ve come to a racetrack would be the annual Formula One night race – which, granted, offers quite the pretty backdrop with twinkling skyscrapers gracing the speeding cars by their sides. The one thing we’ve not particularly come close to though is seeing a woman on the tracks.

That is until we came across Leena Gade, the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) Commission Ambassador for Women in Motorsport and an Audi Sport Team lead Race Engineer. As a pioneer for women in the typically male-dominated field of motorsport, Leena serves as a huge inspiration for females looking to break into the racing world.

In 2011, she became the first female race engineer in the Audi Sport Team to win the gruelling 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race and was named the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) ‘Man of the Year’. Now with that many accolades under her name and inspiring story to tell, it’s no wonder the 39 year-old has become a role model for young girls and women interested in pursuing engineering, but are often afraid to venture forth or feel that they need to change in order to fit in.

Proving that anyone can do the job just as well, Leena is a force to be reckoned with and has most definitely been paving the way for aspiring female racers. Here we spoke to Leena Gade on how she got started with racing, challenges and advice for anyone yearning to crack the glass ceiling of ‘male-dominated’ sports. If men can do it, so can you.

How did you get into motorsport?

From the age of 13, I watched it as a teenager but it was not until I was 17 years old that I watched a race on site. And only when I was 27, I worked at an event as a mechanic for the first time. I have always been interested in physics and in solving problems as well as how things worked. My interest in racing came from watching Formula One on television. The link to engineering only emerged when I started learning what roles engineers have in the development of race cars and in race teams. I got that information from TV coverage and technical magazines. Racing offers a competitive arena where technology and its development were core to progress. Competition and the hunger to win by doing the best job were further factors that determined my decision.

After my degree in aerospace engineering, I worked for eight years in the automotive industry while working part time with teams on weekends to gain motorsport experience from the age of 27 to 30. Then I took the step to freelance and work for as many series and teams as possible to learn and get experience.

MFA: Were there issues being a female in a male-dominated crew?

The only issues were the ones that I brought to the team when I didn’t want anyone to judge my decisions as being made by a girl rather than the person doing the job.

MFA: What has been the biggest obstacle or challenge in your career so far?

Being a race engineer for Audi comes with only one goal: finishing every race in P1 is just expected. Achieving that is very different though. It takes a lot of confidence to make decisions, believing in yourself, being prepared, knowing your own and the team’s weaknesses and strengths plus how to use them.

MFA: Should the award be changed to FIA WEC ‘Woman of the Year’ instead?

I rather think it should be changed to “Exceptional Individual of the Year”. Why should it matter if you are male or female? The best person should be recognised.

MFA: What advice would you give to women yearning for a career in typically male-dominated domains?

Women can be their own worst critics and already judge themselves as not being capable of the job or challenging opinions. But they need to believe in themselves and that they can do the same job with the same tools, if not better than a man. We also focus too heavily on what we have done, not what we could do. Often we don’t push ourselves into the limelight or more senior positions. You have to have the confidence to put yourself in the firing line and push yourself to learn as much as possible and be aware of the industry you are interested in. Be prepared that sometimes you have to go backwards to go forwards.

MFA:What is the one thing you would like to change about motosport?

It is still a sexist industry like many other male-dominated industries. Women shouldn’t have to behave like men to be part of it. They should be able to bring their individuality to the sport and for it to be seen as an advantage.