With the motorsport world finally putting light on the women of racing, one racer was ready to work her way up to the Formula 1 grid. As a Formula 2 rookie, she struggled, but with Red Bull Racing behind her, she was sure to cause one of hell of a c...
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"Anneli, it's good to see you. How does it feel to be part of the grid?"
"It feels... I don't know. It should not be foreign to me, I have raced all my life but now there is the added pressure of the team," Anneli explained.
"Has your introduction to Formula 1 come sooner than you expected?"
"I think one thing, it was always like be prepared, you never know what's going to happen. Let's say, I didn't expect to maybe be in the car in Budapest, for example, but you never know. Surprised, but maybe not that surprised." Anneli answered. "But short answer, yes."
"Now we're told that you got up to speed very quickly, last week, driving the Red Bull at the Pirelli test. What are your expectations with AlphaTauri?"
"The car I drove a week ago was a pleasure. I obviously know that this weekend and now for the rest of the season it's a different car and some different challenges but I'm just going to get out there, not think too much about it, drive, and then go from there and just take some steps forward after that."
Anneli Räikönnën was no stranger to how the world worked. It worked in strategic and calculated ways and only those that played the game were able to advance further than the middle of the board, whatever life goal that was. It was like snakes and ladders were three steps forward could take you five steps back or where a simple easy access ladder took you to the top.
Anneli landed on a ladder to a career she had wanted since the day her feet felt a pedal beneath it, since her ears heard the roar of an engineer and she touched a steering wheel. Whether she'd fall back down was yet to be seen but Anneli only planned on rolling the dice to go up.
Robyn Saunders was handed a chance and even though she made it work with clear talent...Anneli had worked a lot harder for it in the traditional male route. The spot Anneli got was not from a chance at diversity or the word of a world champion, though Anneli knew Robyn deserved it. Anneli had gotten there through blood, sweat and tears just like the greats of Lewis Hamilton had. She treasured that: she had beaten men all of her life in this sport and now it was being recognised.
Regardless of what people thought about F1 pushing for women in the sport, like F1 Academy, they were there because they deserved it. Even if they got the seat due to the help of a company wanting diversity, they wouldn't keep it if they didn't deserve it in the long run.
