Feature

‘We are changing the whole game’ – Campos Racing’s Gabriela Parra on how she balances her roles as Team Manager and Race Engineer

4 March 2025

With a non-stop agenda from the start of the weekend to its very end, Gabriela Parra knows exactly what it means to perform under pressure.

As Campos Racing’s Team Manager, she is responsible for overseeing the Spanish team’s operations whilst also supporting an individual driver’s performance and development as their race engineer.

In the latest addition of our Pathways Into Motorsport series, Parra delves into how she manages to juggle both roles, sacrifices and harnessing her support system to lead her team alongside starting a family.

“The moment that I'm not nervous before a race, it's the moment that I should stop because it's not giving me the same energy that it used to be,” she begins. “But at the moment, it's still the same.”

Catching the racing bug at an early age, Parra eventually navigated her way from working as an industrial engineer to the paddock.

“Everything started because I had a really racing environment back at home,” she explained. “It's like a little bug that bites you, the passion for the adrenaline that you feel when you're around the race cars. I even tried to race myself back in my hometown in Venezuela.

“I studied something completely outside from the motorsport industry. I'm an industrial engineer, so I used to be in the regular industry back in my hometown. I got the opportunity to get more into motorsports in my country and then had the opportunity to come to Europe to start working in this environment and everything started over there.”

Combining her two roles means that Parra has to managing the full team’s operations as well providing one-to-one support for her driver in their preparations for the weekend. Last season saw her act as Carrie Schreiner’s race engineer.

“Race weekends (starts by) having to prepare all the logistics for the team, try to be aware that all the team members have everything they need,” she noted. “As a Team Manager, we need to try to be on top of everyone — all the messages are clear, all the information for the weekend is clear, all the procedures that we need to follow because they change every race.

“So, you need to do different things for each circuit and also, to create some activities that can help you with team building. The schedule, pit stop practice and all that is related to the operational side as well.

“Then as a race engineer, you need to prepare for the full weekend. In my case, I’m the race engineer for Carrie (Schreiner)’s car, so I need to make sure that Carrie knows what the procedures are as well, when she needs to be in the car, what needs to be done, what has been done in the car. Then of course, debriefing with her about the data, about the videos that you have on the circuit.

“It’s pretty challenging to have both things at the same time because you need to manage what is the car itself, which takes time. But at the same time, you need to be on top of the other things. I try to do my best to have both roles covered.”

Alongside her two roles, Parra also welcomed a new addition to her family during the 2023 season and credits her support network for enabling her to pursue her passion alongside motherhood. Whilst the job isn’t without its challenges, it’s also full of rewarding experiences, not least helping to nurture young talent and set them on the path to success.

“I think my favourite part from the series is the fact that we build up the next generation,” said Parra. “We are trying to look for the best female out there, so we are (with) all the teams together, developing and trying to help them grow to be on the level of a championship like F2 or F3.

“We try at the moment to develop, it’s a slow progress but it’s a needed process. You need to build up progressively, and you need to try to make them grow and understand how to drive, how to interpret situations on track and all of this. I think that’s my favourite part because you are teaching.”

She added: “I became a mum last year, which was a challenging thing, but it was not impossible. I combined both roles as well last year, still running the team and becoming a mum. So, I had my little kid travelling with me to all the races and then, I try to make it easier for him but also, easier for me.

“The time that you are far away from home, the travelling part, it’s fun to travel, to get to see new places and fun places as well. But you need to miss every single birthday, anniversary or important dates for your family, I think that’s the hardest part. I had the full support from everyone, so I'm really more than thankful for that. If you're surrounded with the right people, then it that makes everything much easier.”

Seeing how F1 ACADEMY has evolved from the very beginning, Parra believes the series is playing a crucial role in establishing a pathway and more entry points for young women to find their way into the sport on and off the track.

“I think we are changing the whole game. I think we are changing the way that people are watching girls race in general. From being part of this from day one, I think it has been one of the best things that I could do. I feel part of the history.

“Definitely, the next generation’s path is going to be really easier, so I think that for our generation, we are the ones in front of the pack, but we are making the surface quite smooth for the ones coming up.

Passing on advice from her own experience, Parra concluded: “Take all the chances you have and every single experience you have, even if it's not the best one, it will teach you a good lesson. Don't ever listen to the people outside that tell you that you cannot do it.

“There are a lot of people that you can find on the way that they could tell you ‘it’s not for you, you’re not going to last long’ or sometimes you even find someone that tells you ‘you’re a girl, you cannot make it’. Then we’re proving them wrong.”