“Learn As You Go Through A Career”: Clare Confirms
This is a highlight of my travelling through motorsport series featuring women excelling in the W Series. This article was transferred from my Women Race website:
Located in Oxford, everyone had just come out of their third lockdown. The restrictions started to lift, Williams Racing Head of Quality & Manufacturing Engineering, Clare Sibley managed well having just returned from maternity leave last January. Since being back, Clare has been running her teams at the well-established factory in Grove, Oxfordshire, England. The team is functioning with a hybrid mode to limit the number of people in the office and create balance for the engineering team.
Clare didn’t know that she wanted to work in motorsport until she got the job. There was no prior long-term passion. Although having studied an MA MSc, Natural Sciences: Materials at the University of Cambridge, she applied for a variety of apprentice placements. Soon enough, Clare got a graduate placement with Mercedes High-Performance Powertrains. Naturally, she fell into the job and enjoyed the pace of work as things happen quickly. Getting sucked into the amazing atmosphere, Clare worked at Mercedes for six years before moving to Williams Racing in 2016 where she has been for more than 4 years now.
When asked about the most accurate description of her role at Williams Racing in F1, Sibley said, “I’m Head of Quality & Manufacturing Engineering. It involves managing the link between engineering and operations. The focus is on making sure the parts of engineering design are made correctly and efficiently as well as looking at ways we can improve.”
Highly skilled in automotive, materials, manufacturing, and engineering, Clare loves her team. Noting that the best part of her job is teamwork. Being able to work with everyone to get things to the track as quickly as possible is great. Having always played sports such as hockey, teamwork is always important and at the centre of her job. Meanwhile, the hardest part is the challenge of loads of things going on and balancing priorities.
George Russell racing during the Spanish Grand Prix. Image Credit: Williams F1 Racing.
While discussing our favourite F1 tracks, we agreed on Silverstone, the home of British motor racing. Clare added, “It’s definitely Silverstone. The team really enjoys going there. It has that feeling. That feeling with the fans is so incredible. It all plays into the perspective of what you do and how much it means.” For other favourites, it’s the Mini that stands out as fun to drive. Also, it’s wonderful as Clare gets to support local business as Minis are made at the factory in Oxford, England.
Regarding the progress of women in motorsport, Clare believes that there has been a big increase in visibility and things are going in the right direction. From that perspective, the legacy that a woman can be at the top and lead the team is brilliant. Hopefully, it won’t be long until we see another one there. The number of female engineers is low but the pipeline is starting to flow in and people are beginning to reach points in their careers that lead to senior management.
For Williams Racing this season so far, it’s been tough on the track. Clare recognises that they’ve seen progress though and are able to compete. Sibley stated, “We’re on a journey. It’s nice to see that the journey is going in the right direction. I’m looking forward to seeing where it takes us as a team. It’s the last one with the current cars. Because of the covid-19 pandemic, we were delayed for our new cars regarding the regulating changes until next year. Yet, we’re still able to see our current cars develop and evolve.”
Then Clare’s role model that she’s always looked up to is Claire Williams OBE, the former Deputy Principal of Williams F1 Racing team who resigned in late 2020. Sibley admires that it was impressive to see her at the top and support her on multiple things that she was trying to do including promoting women in the motorsport industry.
Interviewing Clare Sibley on zoom was a pleasure. At the end of our conversation, she gave advice to those aspiring to work in motorsport, Sibley expressed how she’s passionate about leadership and culture, “I try to practice what I preach. I try to model myself well in what I do. I challenge my team to challenge me. I’m a manager but at the same time we’re always learning how to manage and that’s a continuous journey. I do a lot of reading to know how to put those behaviours into practice. I think people should definitely believe you can do whatever you want to do. Don’t be put off by thinking it’s something women can’t do. Don’t ever think too far ahead. If I went back 10 years and thought I would be a manager within an F1 team, I wouldn’t know. A career is a marathon, not a sprint. Don’t worry about when you achieve things. What you design as success is what you decide. Learn about yourself as you go through a career.”