Inside Redback Racing's drive to put more women behind the wheel

Converting interest from female students into membership is Redback Racing's latest challenge.

Published on the 11 March 2026

On the eve of the biggest regulation change in Formula One, it's perhaps not surprising that the world's fastest sport is lagging a bit behind when it comes to women's presence on and off the track. It's not just confined to Formula One, though. Studies have shown systemic barriers and prejudices preventing women from rising to the upper echelons across all forms of motorsport.

For the UNSW Redback Racing Team, there's a strong presence of women across technical and non-technical roles. However, the team recognised the importance of addressing the gender imbalance issue proactively and raising awareness about the opportunities women can have within Redback Racing.

To understand what the team is doing on this front, we spoke with Thao 'Peli' Nghiem, a fourth-year Mechanical Engineer and Chairwoman of Redback Racing's Women's Working Group (WWG).

Establishing the Working Women's Group (WWG)

When Peli joined Redback Racing in 2024 as part of the Suspension and Brakes team, she was initially drawn in by its "reputation" and by seeing the car during O-week.

"You [hear about the team] a lot in mechanical engineering because it is quite a big student project," recalls Peli. "I always wanted to join just to get that hands-on learning."

"I knew it was a very good community as well. Everyone speaks very highly of it because you gain so many friends, so many connections just from being in the team."

After spending two years on the technical side, Peli decided to step back in 2026 to focus more on the operational side of the team, specifically to be the Chairwoman of the team's WWG. When asked about the number of women joining the team since she joined in 2024, her answer was quite surprising.

"I think in my recruitment pool, there was a higher balance of girls joining," says Peli. "There were six people who joined suspensions and brakes, half of them were girls. But since then, we actually haven't seen many girls join the team."

It wasn't that female candidates weren't good enough; there are definitely plenty of qualified applicants out there. This challenge is likely exacerbated by a combination of lack of awareness, marketing, and general understanding. For Peli, one thing was clear: There simply aren't as many women applying for roles - engineering or otherwise - with Redback Racing, and this was what spurred the establishment of the WWG.

Building up the WWG and implementing initiatives

For 2026, there was a concerted effort from the WWG to make things more structured with emphasis on outreach and raising awareness about the opportunities available at Redback Racing.

"This year there's more structure because [the WWG] built up what the goals are, what they want to do, and we can build off the events that ran last year," explains Peli.

Working in close collaboration with the UNSW Women in Engineering Society, Redback Racing's WWG has run several technical recruitment workshops aimed at giving women the "opportunity to upskill and engage more with Redback" before they start applying so that they're feeling well-prepared.

"These workshops gives [female applicants] better opportunities and helps build their confidence."

Wanted: Female drivers

Driver eligibility criteria

To be a Redback Racing driver, no key requirements are needed. However:

Prior racing experience in hyper-karting, go-karting, or sim-racing would hold you in good standing; and
The team is also keen on drivers looking to stay with the team for at least a few years.

When recruiting drivers, it is normally based on the applicant's race performance conducted at Hyper Karting at Moore Park and their in-person interview performance. In other words, your audition will be how well - and fast - you can drive.

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Formula One won't have a female driver any time soon (sadly), but Redback Racing is well ahead when it comes to having women behind the racing wheel. Having run a female driver in 2025, the aim is to get women who are interested in the driving aspect first and everything else second.

"We've mandated that one of the drivers has to be female, and there are enough females on the team to recruit a driver," says Peli.

"We want to see more sign-ups of girls interested in the driving program."

Building on previous driver recruitment efforts, the WWG plans to run an "enhanced" version of its driver program in hopes of driving interest from women. As for whether the recruitment process differs for female drivers, Peli says it's all the same and it is truly a meritocracy. For those interested in turning a wheel rather than making it, this is a fantastic opportunity.

Mandating a female driver is already groundbreaking, especially in the world of motorsport. While there's a strong female presence within the team already, Peli recognises how it's early days yet for this new era of Redback Racing's WWG, but the signs are positive so far.

"If you look at the leadership level at the moment, there's still a very good split between girls and guys," says Peli. "But I think the issue is just that we're not seeing the same [female applicant] volume come in."

"I hope to see that number rise a bit further, because people are talented regardless of what gender you are."

Interested in joining Redback Racing?

Joining Redback Racing is a fantastic opportunity to not only be part of a team of passionate people, but it's also a brilliant environment to develop your hard and soft skills. Having said that, there's an element of "you get out what you put in."

"You can be in the team and essentially not do anything because the other people around you, they're just students as well," explains Peli. "They're not there to hold your hand or tell you what to do. They're working on their own projects."

"It's up to you to be like, 'Okay, I'm in this team. I want to learn about the car', and then actually pinpoint what you want to work on and build your own skills from there."

Beyond that, it's also an environment where it's a UNSW society in all but name. It just so happens to be a society where the final result is a racing car designed and built by its students.

"It's a society kind of feeling, and that's what motivates people to come in every Saturday," reflects Peli. "You're there to work, but there to hang out with your friends and be part of a community."

If you missed out on applying for Redback Racing during Term 1, don't stress! Recruitment will open up again for Term 3, so there's plenty of time to brush up on your CV and skills to be as best prepared as possible.

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