The FIA Girls on Track program successfully held its special development and mentoring program at the Formula 1 Heineken Australian Grand Prix.
 
Taking place all day during the Thursday of the event, the program started off with a women in motorsport breakfast where Girls on Track ambassadors Krystina Emmanouilides and Molly Taylor featured in a panel to discuss their careers.
 
A selection of Girls on Track ambassadors then joined Emmanouilides and Taylor in four workshops, which touched on the different areas of motorsport, including driving, engineering, team operations and media communications. 
 
The ambassadors lending their expertise on the day included Jess Dane, Nadine Armstrong, Romy Meyer, Emma Notarfrancesco, Kate Peck, Shannen Kiely and Emily Duggan.


Following on from the workshops, the 20 participants then got to spend time with the FIA Girls on Track Ambassadors, Champions and women within the sport – including Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN Partnership Manager & Sustainability Specialist, Almira Tabakovic. 
 
In the afternoon, the participants got a rare insight into a number of race teams around the paddock, which included the Triple Eight Engineering garage alongside Dane and another Girls on Track Champion, Charise Bristow.
 
The day was then capped off with an exclusive tour of Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN with Tabakovic and Emmanouilides, which included chats with the current Formula 1 drivers Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu and Robert Kubica. 


It was a highly productive day for the inspired women, all of who will use the program to kick-start a career in the sport.
 
One of the participants, Ocean Tiseman, left the day full of motivation.
 
“The program just really made me know that it’s for me. Just being here was great and I loved it,” Tiseman said.
 
“The program for me was a once in a lifetime experience and it’s something I never would have imagined myself doing – I am so grateful for the opportunity.
 
The highlight was the three hours with Alfa Romeo, as well as the Networking Lunch where I got to meet great professionals and get contacts with people that will help progress my future. 
 
"My goal is to become a race engineer through mechanical engineering. If that doesn’t happen, then I would like to be on strategy of some sort."


Sports journalism hopeful Sophie Wisely was also thrilled with opportunity gained during the day, 
 
"The program made me realise that this is exactly where I want to be,” Wisely said.
 
“It’s so cool seeing people taking the same pipeline as you and your career. It gives you confirmation that it’s a goal possible to achieve and these success stories are something you can take motivation from.
 
“Meeting the drivers and seeing them in the flesh – the elite in their game – was cool, as well as meeting everyone at the network lunch. It was nice to see how enthusiastic they were too.”
 
Click here for more information on the FIA Girls on Track.