Meet Dalia Ramos, the Mexican woman who builds race cars for Alpine F1 Team

Dalia Ramos is the head of Alpine's build and test team.
The team is responsible for the mechanical build, testing, and final build of the race cars.
She told Insider how she got started in her career and what the job is like.

This is an edited, translated version of an article that originally appeared on June 1, 2022.

Dalia Ramos is the head of build and test at Alpine F1 Team, a Formula One constructor.

After beginning her career at Procter & Gamble, Ramos moved to England to study for a master's degree in manufacturing engineering and management at the University of Nottingham.

She then worked at Rolls-Royce as a manufacturing engineer. In an interview with Insider, she said her life took a dramatic turn when French carmaker Renault renovated its F1 factory in En stone, England, and overhauled its F1 brand to become the Alpine F1 Team.

The rebranding created an opening as Alpine's head of build and test, the team responsible for the mechanical build, testing, and final build of the race cars.

Ramos said it's a "large and extensive" department that works on a number of aspects of the vehicle, such as the transmission, brakes, hydraulics, front and rear spoilers, tires, and seats.

It's also in charge of getting the parts to the racetracks and back and homologation — the approval processes required for the cars and their different parts to be able to race.

It also manufactures the tools used by the pit crews and looks after the Alpine Academy cars used by its young drivers.

Ramos thought that the job was perfect for her.

Her first task when she joined Alpine was to build the team's car for the 2022 season, with goals to enhance overtaking, close racing, and competition in the sport.

"We call the period before the start of the season 'car build,'" Ramos said. "It was my first year, my first car build, and it was extremely tough. Everyone told me it was the worst they'd experienced in years."

The new car was supposed to race in the 2021 campaign, but it was delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Alpine seized the opportunity to further develop the car, Ramos said.

"In F1, whenever they tell you that you have 10 more minutes, you have to take advantage of those 10 minutes and improve the car," she added. "When we got to assembling the components, it was pretty intense. We worked seven days a week and in really long shifts."

Modifications can be made to the cars throughout the year, Ramos said.

The design and development divisions decide what to change and how to do it, and then feed this information to Ramos and her team.

"We usually have a general plan of what's going to happen during the year, but it becomes more specific as we get closer to certain races," she said. "We know when a big upgrade package is coming, but not exactly what it's going to involve until nearer the time."

Ramos also said she gets feedback from Alpine's drivers, Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon, during races.

"During a race, the race team sends us feedback on what's going on in real time. They tell us what the drivers like and don't like, and they also tell us what we need to change for the next race," she said.

"Some of this feedback goes directly to my department and some goes to the simulation department. That's where they do the race testing."

Esteban Ocon during the third practice session ahead of the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix — Esteban Ocon is in ninth place in the Drivers' Championship, while Fernando Alonso is 11th.
GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images

Ramos' team also works with the drivers on their racing seats, she said.

"Those are long days. The guys generally know how each driver works. There are some who come in and know exactly how they want their seat, and if you don't give it to them like that, they don't want anything at all," she said.

"There are others that you can guide a little bit more. The team is always prepared for that kind of thing," she added.

Her team also has to be prepared to send parts to racetracks around the world during Grand Prix weekends.

"We're generally well prepared, but sometimes on a Friday something happens like an accident or they want something different for the race on Sunday. If we're racing in Europe, we can get it to them," she said.

According to Ramos, of the 850 people working at Alpine's factory in Enstone, only 11% are women and only around five come from Latin America.

"A friend told me that I'm a minority among minorities. I feel very proud of that," Ramos said.

The French team has been working with the Diversity and Inclusion Committee and aims to increase female representation to 30% by 2025.

Ramos said that the first step is to show women know that F1 is "going to give them the place, the value, and the respect they deserve."

"We also have to educate people in the factory who aren't used to seeing women in certain positions," she added.

In 2021, Ramos became a British citizen, an experience she described as "beautiful and moving, but it reaffirmed to me that my roots are in Mexico."

F1 is due to visit Mexico from October 28 to 30 for the Mexico City GP, and Ramos said she hopes to travel with the team.

"My job is 100% in the factory. But the team tries to get people who work here out to experience the racetracks as the pace is completely different and it's a valuable experience," Ramos said.

In the 2021 season, his first at Alpine, French driver Esteban Ocon won the Hungarian GP.

Alpine currently sits fifth in the Constructors' World Championship with 47 points. Ocon is in ninth place in the Drivers' Championship, while Alonso is 11th.

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