Zimbabwean woman braces Formula 1 stage for the first time in 70 years

Zimbabwean chemical engineer, Stephanie Travers made history over the weekend when she became the first black woman stand on a Formula One (F1) podium in 70 years since the very first Formula 1 World Championship Grand Prix was held in 1950.25-year-old Stephanie who is the Petronas trackside engineer for 6-time Formula One World Champion, Lewis Hamilton represented the Mercedez-AMG Petronas F1 team and collected the award on behalf of the team. Travers was on the podium alongside Lewis Hamilton at Sunday’s Styrian Grand Prix in Austria.

Travers beat more than 7 000 applicants from the whole world in 2019 to land the job as the Petronas trackside fluid engineer for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team.Travers provides the six-time F1 constructor’s championship winners with a comprehensive suite of fluid support services. She works with the rest of the team to ensure that Mercedes drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas can hunt for more success on the track.

According to Zimlive, Travers was born in Harare, Zimbabwe to Maria and Bertram Travers and is the grand-daughter of Pat Travers, the late chairman of Arcadia United Football Club.She landed her dream job after going through a rigorous five-stage selection process which saw her coming out on top ahead of more than 7 000 applicants. The (then) 24-year-old got the job after an interview with Petronas Group Chief Executive Officer, Giuseppe D’Arrigo in the final stage of the rigorous selection process. Announcing the appointment last year, D’Arrigo said, “…PETRONAS employs the best and the brightest throughout the company and I believe that Stephanie’s skill set, passion, determination and positive attitude will make her an incredible addition to our team.”