In the fast lane with the first female Emirati F1 Racer: Amna Al Qubaisi

[Music] so I want to start off by explaining my Motorsport Journey um I started pretty late at the age of 14 to many it's pretty young in the Motorsport world it's pretty old so uh I'll start off by first in 2013 I was a gymnast for 10 years before that I was doing gymnastics in the elite Division and I was really bored of it cuz there was a competition once a year and I never really enjoyed and I didn't have that spark but then I actually saw my father who was a racing driver himself he was competing in 2009 and I actually got that spark from him because ever since he brought racing drivers to the house uh we would go support him all they ever spoke about was racing the tracks they've been to the drivers they've met and it really sparked me I wanted to be a part of his world as well so that's when in 2013 I started rental carting so my dad was my coach he was helping me get the best time we did it here in our home track in Al foran carting track and from there I was selected to be part of a speed academy uh the mons speed Academy who was a driver's program to help build and bring mrti racing drivers to Formula 1 and I was the first female selected among seven men so uh I was pretty happy so I thank you so I competed in carting junior level um it was pretty difficult my first race weekend it was outside of a racing cart so it was your personal track uh carting uh cart and team and it was new to me different tental carts um I competed nationally in the UAE and I actually didn't really enjoy it because I wasn't as quick as I expected to be so um I actually had a thought to myself and I was crying to my dad I was telling him you know racing is not for me um I'm really slow I'm not a good racing driver I don't think I'll make it anywhere and my dad actually sat me down and he told me you know every Champion was once a beginner a rookie they started off you know as slow as you maybe but then you know it's takes a lot of hard work a lot of time a lot of resilience to actually make it up and become a champion one day and I actually took that to thought and I'm really happy I did not quit otherwise I wouldn't be where I am today so uh thanks to my father who was really a big motivation for me throughout my racing history um so in 201 2015 I actually after I started carting two years later I had my first podium in carting in juniors and that was like a big ego boost for me a lot of hard work a lot of Tears uh put to the my racing journey I actually got a Podium for the first time after that when I turned 17 I had to move up to the next level which was the seniors category and from there it would be my last year competing and carting as the mons speed Academy was about to end from there so uh I had to really prove myself and from there I actually won the championship the first female in history to win a carting championship in seniors and then from there I actually had to compete in the GCC drivers program where they selected me to become to represent the UAE out of all men in the GCC and uh the first time you know being the only female they always doubt you underestimate you you know push you aside that's the world of Motorsport you know you're the only female and it's a male-dominated sport there's no one that would you know believe in you it's only yourself you have yourself to believe and so uh I was like you know what I'll take it easy I'll just let them think that it's good they think that I'm not good enough so that I could you know have it easy through and in the end I actually wanted GCC drivers program and then from there I had a sponsorship from kasperski Lab to compete in Formula 4 Italian uh so that was my 2015 2017 journey in 2018 I competed in Formula 4 Italian now that was a different category it was very prestigious it was very hard very difficult again being the only female the only uh female racing driver the only Arab representative on the grid it was very actually competitive um I had a lot of uh criticism and racism facing on track I was uh dealing with a lot of stereotypes you know people would assume the only reason I was Raising was because I had a big Bank behind me a big backup who are funding me which isn't true it was very difficult to find a sponsorship and I was very thankful kasperski lab actually gave me that sponsorship so I started in 2018 I was always looked down upon against my teammates whatever I had to say was never counted for let's say I have a problem with a car I'd say I have an issue with a car they would always judge me based on my driving and not the car um but when my teammates would complain about the car they would listen to them so I had a lot of problems facing with the team being the only female and it took a lot of time for them to actually listen to me and take my words to consideration but then in the last round in 2019 during the F1 Abu Dhabi GP once they started to listen to me I actually had the chance to win in my home track in front of Formula 1 on the F1 Podium it was a surreal moment I actually also got Formula E to have me as their Formula E test driver in riy so I usually never thought of myself you know someone who would make it up this far I always thought you know I would just take it as a career take it as a hobby not really think of it think of anything of it but seeing how far I've come actually you know I'm just in disbelief as well right now just looking at these photos these this took 10 years of hard work uh commitment not being a around friends not being around family a lot of traveling a lot of criticism but I'm really happy where I got too now after 2019 um the pandemic hit and I had no sponsors so I was out of racing for a year or two I actually thought you know maybe I should go into social media try something new try to gain sponsors through social media and it actually worked I actually got a post from high Beast uh on social media and from there I actually gained a lot of exposure and two sponsors from that post and it actually helped me to reach the next level which was Formula 3 Asia so once I competed in Formula 3 Asia after no racing it was very difficult it was a big grid all men um I used to compete with drivers who were slower than me I find them faster than me in that weekend it was a very a stressful Championship uh year for me but then in the second year I started to get top 10 out of 35 drivers uh I was able to gain some points in the championship and yeah it was it took a lot of hard work a lot of time and uh I actually got to race also with my father and my sister we were in the same team in Formula 3 Asia for the second year and uh I was the only one who got to top 10 out of them so they were really annoyed after that championship in 2023 I was able to um I actually thought I was not racing anymore I thought my career has ended from there because there was no funding there was no backup so uh once they released F1 Academy I was in I was in relief they saved my career F1 Academy basically is a championship for female drivers who don't have the budget who don't have the opportunity to compete in high Racing level such as formula 4 or Formula 3 so they have the budget cap which was very low and affordable for all female racing drivers and it's a career saver for not just me but also many other female racing drivers out there so I was able to compete in F1 Academy gain a few uh podiums I was six in the championship we were able to get you know P4 P3 but uh I had a lot of problems with the stewards and penalties and stuff but I managed to finish P6 in the championship and after that now next year um there's a very big announcement coming up uh we signed with a Formula 1 team uh we'll be competing again with F1 Academy and it's going to be announced hopefully in February so uh This Is My overall racing career but the whole moral of the story is every time there's a failure or a setback don't think of it as a dead end or a point that your career is over or your job is over there's always something there's always an opportunity out there but we don't see it we just need to keep working hard and try to find that opportunity so that's the whole moral of the story I had stopped racing twice for one year thinking that my career was over but there's always an opportunity to come and it's never a dead end so I really hope you guys would see this as something for you guys as [Applause] well I'm n kues what an inspiring story and I would like to take a few moments to just dive a little bit deeper into your story first of all we got to ask you how much do you love your career especially the part where you get to drive beat your dad on the racetrack how amazing is that it's a it's a very lovable career I love it to death actually I mean every time I'm not in the racing car I see other people racing you know it's a very depressive moment once you get into it you never want to leave it so yeah it's a very LoveHate relationship with the racing a love hate relationship now let's talk AIT for a few moments about you being actually the first female Arab in so many aspects it's a very male oriented sport how was it actually for you to get into this sport into this field and also how did you find the motivation to stick through when everybody just says no for me I never really wanted to hear what people have to say about me entering a sport that I loved um I actually had a lot of people telling me you know this is not a sport for women you should do something else and that actually pushed me harder to want to take it and be like no it is also for women it's not just for men it's just mainly men have the opportunity and women don't really have that opportunity so I'm glad I went into it and I had the support of my parents let's talk a bit about the mindset because for entrepreneurs having the mindset that you can do it is very important and when you think about being in a race car maybe you're in the last position and you have to actually give your all best how do you deal with the pressure and the expectations that you set for yourself but also others would set for you for me when I have these expectations set on me I actually crack Under Pressure I start making mistakes and I start you know not performing at my best and I've learned to actually mute out all those expectations and mute out looking at comments said about me about my talent and everything I would usually just put myself in a corner and say you know I'm doing the sport for myself I love this sport I have I'm I have the privilege to get the opportunity to be racing in a weekend where not many others have the opportunity to do so so I just sit by myself and be like this is for me I'm racing for me and not for everyone else so sitting by yourself in Stillness and focusing actually on the opportunities that life has given you is what works for you definitely a lot that we can take away thank you so much Amna alesi thank you guys