Do It Scared: Opening Doors to Motorsport
Safaa is a Product Design Engineering student with a clear dream: Formula One. She came to the programme wanting clarity, guidance, and role models — people who, like her, had entered a competitive industry without a traditional path. What she found changed her entire perspective on what that dream could look like.
A Perspective Shift
A key shift came when Safaa's mentor — who had studied the same unrelated degree — shared the reality of breaking into Formula One: the long hours, the limited pay, the demanding lifestyle. That transparency, in Safaa's own words, burst her bubble in the best way possible. Rather than dampening her ambition, it gave her a more grounded and honest picture of the path ahead.
Beyond that, her mentor reviewed her CV and cover letters, helped her understand how to stand out in a competitive field, and opened up conversations across vehicle dynamics, electronics, and the business side of motorsport — sparking interests Safaa hadn't expected to find.
Do it scared. You don't have to feel ready to start.
More Than Professional
Safaa describes her mentor relationship as supportive and deeply relatable. Finding cultural common ground — her mentor is Egyptian, and they bonded over shared experiences as ethnic minority women and a mutual love for Arabic music — gave Safaa the confidence to open up, ask questions, and take advice seriously. Career conversations felt less intimidating and more like guidance from someone who genuinely understood where she was coming from.
Where She Is Now
After the programme, Safaa is no longer fixed on a single narrow route into F1. She now feels more confident exploring business and management roles alongside technical ones, and is looking at master's programmes that would let her leverage her design engineering background while staying connected to her passion. She has spoken with professionals across different areas of the industry and feels more comfortable stepping into new rooms and conversations.
Her advice to future participants: "Put in the time and understand what you want from each session. Don't show up without direction — have a clear target, ask questions, and stay open to possibilities. Don't limit yourself with tunnel vision. Mentoring is about exploring all the doors you didn't even know were there."