Women Who Rokt – “You just need to dream big and things can fall into place.”

Motorsport’s next big revolution stepped up a gear in Florida this weekend as our Team partner Rokt brought the first ‘Women Who Rokt Summit’ to the Miami Grand Prix, to celebrate Round 2 of the F1 Academy 2024 season and the game-changing efforts of a new generation of women in racing and business. 

With inclusion at the heart of its business, leading e-commerce technology firm Rokt this year elevated its partnership with Oracle Red Bull Racing to also support our ambitions in F1 Academy. To kick off the summit, Miami centre stage was given to the sisters leading the charge in the female-only series Hamda Al Qubaisi, Red Bull Racing Pepe Jeans Academy Programme Driver and Amna Al Qubaisi of Visa Cash App RB Academy Programme.

“Culturally, at the start, we didn't have a lot of support,” said Amna of the Emirati sisters’ journey towards the top levels of motorsport. “People were trying to convince my father to take us out of motorsports and focus on something ‘more feminine’. But my father said: ‘No, this is not a male-dominated sport. You guys made it look male dominated’ and that's when he started to support us.”

“Other families took that as an example to support their daughters in the UAE and I've had a lot of messages from girls telling me that because of that, their fathers are supporting them in any field considered male dominated. I’m super happy that I was able to create that bond between fathers and daughters.”

For Hamda, the sisters’ trailblazing journey is proof positive that young women can be agents of change in motorsport. 

“It definitely gives me motivation,” she said. “I feel like the reason we got into the sport is because we wanted to prove these people wrong. And we have been able to achieve so many things. What was a hobby has become a profession and suddenly we're here, part of the Red Bull family. It's crazy how many things happened. But you know, you just need to dream big and things can fall into place!”

The sisters and their fellow F1 Academy drivers are not just opening the door for other girls and women to get involved in motorsport, they’re also helping to change the technology of racing, as Sarah Harrington, Red Bull Academy Programme Manager, explained. 

“We have to consider that on average, females are smaller than males and there have been reports from female drivers in the past of not being able to reach the pedals, not being able to utilise the pedals, and as a result being wrongly positioned in the car so that they get less feedback from the car and their performance is impaired,” she said. “Those are restrictions we have to consider. We haven't had issues, but I think in terms of if there is anything biomechanically that we need to look at it is just another area of research that could be done in terms of making sure that we're maximising the potential of female drivers.”

It's not just on track that change is being driven in motorsports. The summit also heard from female business leaders whose brands have chosen motorsport and joined forces to support the Red Bull Academy Programme, as standard bearers in the quest for change and to reach new generations of customers. 

And for Srishti Gupta, Chief Product Officer at Rokt, partnerships such as the one it has with the Red Bull Racing Pepe Jeans Academy Programme specifically, help the brand to further crystallise and drive forward its vision for diversity and inclusion. 

“This is where organizations like Rokt come into play,” she said. “I remember when we were ringing the bell at NASDAQ to launch our partnership with Red Bull Academy Programme and its commitment to diversity, it was such an incredible moment. It was one of those moments where it was loud and we were saying ‘we are here and we’re owning it’.

“It’s gaining a platform where I think organisations can have a really big role because we are all here to make that same impact, and then it starts to flywheel, so I feel so fortunate to be here among this group. It’s just an incredibly powerful catalyst in terms of changing culture.”

Her thoughts were echoed by representatives of two of the world’s biggest brands and key partners of the programme – Ford Motor Company and Visa. For Margie Pedder, Senior Director Global Sponsorship Marketing at Visa, championing women’s sport is more than a social responsibility must-do, it’s also good for business. 

“Parity is really important to Visa and it's obviously really important to me, but it's also simply a case of doing good also makes  good business sense,” she explained. “We want to make sure that we are doing the right thing, but it also has a positive impact on our company and culture. 

“Like most companies, we're looking to Gen Z and that generation really wants to be involved with brands that are doing what’s right. And we have been doing that for years. Visa has been a sponsor of women’s soccer properties for multiple years. We recently started sponsoring Bay FC, a professional women’s football team in the Bay Area and we made sure that a lot of our investment dollars actually went back to the sport, back to the players themselves, and back to youth level, because participation in sport is just as important as the professional athlete. We want to make sure that we grow it. There is an important connection between the business side and the sports side. And that's why we're excited to be here in F1 Academy with Red Bull.”

For Lisa Drake, Vice President, Electric Vehicles Programs and Energy Supply Chain, Ford, initiatives such as F1 Academy provide exactly what’s needed to advance inclusion. 

“We all have the same potential, but it's just about access,” she said. “It's usually that lack of access that prevents many females reaching their full potential, depending on what they want to do, and here in Formula 1 the teams are providing opportunity through F1 Academy. The more Ford can be involved with F1 Academy and provide awareness and access for these drivers the better, and that's what I'm most excited about.

The metaphor was well chosen. As the sun dipped towards the horizon at the end of a truly inspiring gathering the glow of progress from the stage was palpable. Change is coming and F1 Academy, Red Bull Academy Programme, and its teams’ forward-thinking partners are leading the way.