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As part of the Venturi Automobiles family since 2009 after previously working in Formula 1, Delphine Biscaye has become a permanent fixture at our Monaco base.
Just like every employee, she is a cornerstone and as Team Manager, it is her job to keep our well-oiled racing operation running like clockwork.
For Delphine, however, her interest in motorsport was not immediate and her curiosity piqued when she was studying Mechanical Engineering.
“Nobody around me was interested in motorsport when I was growing up so I discovered racing quite late,” narrates Delphine. “In my technical classes at school, I had to do a project and that’s when I discovered the automotive industry.
“Mechanical Engineering was what appealed to me the most and I decided to study at the French Institute of Advanced Mechanics. I was talking with my friends and everyone wanted to work in motorsport and that sounded very cool!
“When I said I wanted to work in motorsport, I was told that it would be very difficult to get into and that very few women worked in it. Because I was told I wouldn’t be able to do it, I wanted to do it even more and that’s really where it started.”
From there, Delphine tailored her studies specifically to motorsport, only applying to do placements with racing teams and automotive manufacturers and upon graduation, she found herself working in the world of Formula 1:
“I had my first contract with Williams and I really liked working there. I became a specialist in suspension and helped design the suspension of the FW31. But because my contract was ending, I had to find a job elsewhere.
“I contacted Venturi where I had done a placement and they offered me a job so I came back to France and started in December 2009. Because we’re a small team, you are always involved in a lot of discussions, even if it’s not your department and you can really learn from the others.
“You also get to change roles quite often which I love because I can develop my knowledge and experience! In 10 years, I’ve been a mechanical engineer, a project manager, and I’ve worked in aftersales. It can be challenging to change jobs without changing companies but at Venturi, we can do this seamlessly!”
Working on the logistics and travel of ROKiT Venturi Racing in Formula E’s inaugural season, Delphine got her first taste of the Formula E paddock in the 2015-16 campaign as our stand-in Team Manager for the Long Beach E-Prix where Stephane Sarrazin ascended the podium for our second set of silverware.
For Season 3, Delphine was offered the job of Team Manager on a full-time basis.
“As Team Manager, I nearly have a different job from the office to the track,” continues Delphine. “At the office, I look after the budget with Susie and our accounting department, look after the logistics and freight, and do the team planning for race events.
“When I’m at the track, all of this nearly stops and I focus on the sporting side. I’m the one in contact with the other teams and the FIA and I’m also the one in contact with the stewards so if there are any penalties, then I’m the one going.
“I love the human aspect of the job because in the team, we have a lot of different characters and when we are at races, we are with each other for five days, full-time. You need to be able to know people and how they react to stress. This can be one of the most difficult things but it’s also one of the most interesting.”
Both at the track and back at base, determination underpins Delphine’s work ethic and since an early age, this resolution has pushed her, holding the ambition to go further:
“I grew up in an environment where you had to prove yourself and prove what you can do. My family was always behind me and my brothers, but we grew up with the idea that you make yourself.
“I had this idea that if you want to do something or make something, then you should just go and do it and not always ask for permission or wait for advice or help – just go and do your best. That’s what pushed me.
“If I had to offer a piece of advice to someone who wants to work in motorsport – or for life in general – I would say don’t stop. Don’t listen to the people who say that you can’t do it. Just try and you will see what you can do.
“When I saw the girls in the mountains of Marrakesh in Season 6, that’s what I told them. I told them that you can do whatever you want to do. Some things are harder than others but if you don’t try, you will never know if you can do it or not.”
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