The UAE's First Formula 3 Driver Is Breaking the Status Quo
Amna Al Qubaisi talks about her journey, overcoming racism and her inspirations.
As the final piece from our Muslim Women’s Day celebration with Muslim Girl this year, we spoke to the Emirati female racing driver, Amna Al Qubaisi. The 22-year-old reflects on her career and aspirations in life. Read on to learn more about Amna and her journey.
To check out more from our collaborative series, we spoke to Muslim musicians that are using their voice to empower others, fashion influencers about their personal style and hijabi women around the world about beauty means to them.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you grew a liking towards car racing.
I’m the first Emirati Formula 3 driver and I aspire to climb up the ladder. I gained interest in racing because my father is a race car driver and he would invite drivers and his team over to the house for dinner. All they spoke about was racing, different tracks they’ve been to and the drivers they’ve met and that’s when it clicked that I wanted to start racing.
Do you see car racing as a male dominated sport? How has your experience been as a woman?
In the beginning, I never really thought of it, but as I progress, I’ve seen very little to few female drivers in this sport. Especially in single seaters, there aren’t many female drivers, as the sport requires a lot of funding to reach to the top. For me, it’s been a bit tricky, let alone also being the only Arab on the grid. I had to deal with being underestimated a lot, a lot of the time racism too, but throughout my career, it started to get better and I gained the respect as a driver.
What strengths do you believe you have that have brought you to where you are now – both professionally and personally?
The strength I had that brought me up to where I am today was the commitment I had to keep persisting. I always had hope at the back of my mind that, one day, I could be as good as those I compete with and to pave the way and open doors for girls who would like to take part in this sport.
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Who do you look to for inspiration? What do you hope to achieve as someone who has broken the status quo?
I honestly look at a lot different individuals who share their stories and struggles on how they’ve overcome their own obstacles and try to use that as a lesson in case I go through similar situations. What I hope to achieve is to always make my country proud, make young girls and boys believe that there’s always hope – you just need to work twice as hard and never lose hope.
I would love to race every legendary driver in the books from Ayrton Senna to Lewis Hamilton. I could learn a lot from them.
What’s your favorite everyday car?
I would say the Cadillac CT5! It’s such a fun car to drive and it’s super light at the same time I could use it for everyday use when I’m not in the mood to race.
