Career

From Győr to Formula 1: Beatrix Sipos’ journey to the Audi Formula Racing GmbH team

2026. 07. 24.

Sipos Beatrix has been part of the Audi Formula Racing GmbH team in Neuburg since 2023, where she works on the development of the Audi Revolut F1 Team’s powertrain. After her secondary school years in Veszprém, her path led her to Győr, to Széchenyi István University, and then to technical development at Audi Hungaria. As a finite element simulation engineer, she gained professional experience at our company that later became her entry ticket into the world’s most complex technical racing series. In the interview, she talks about how a factory visit became a goal, how that goal became a conscious professional journey, and how engineering experience gained in Győr turned into a Formula 1 career.

Audi Hungaria: Where did your professional journey begin, and how did Audi come into the picture?

Sipos Beatrix: I come from Veszprém County, from a small town called Berhida. I went to secondary school in Veszprém and graduated from a Spanish bilingual programme. During my secondary school years, I decided that I wanted to pursue engineering studies, so I marked Győr as my first choice. A major reason for this was that, as a secondary school student, I took part in a factory visit at Audi Hungaria, where we saw the TT line. That was when I decided I wanted to become an Audi employee.

In Győr, I studied mechatronics engineering full-time at bachelor’s level. In the final year of my BSc, I started as an intern in technical development at Audi Hungaria, in the field of finite element simulation. Less than half a year later, I became a full-time employee and completed my final semester while already working full-time. Later, I completed my master’s degree part-time, also alongside work, again in Győr: in mechanical engineering, specialising in applied mechanics. By then, I was already studying exactly what I was working with in my job.

What exactly did you work on in technical development at Audi Hungaria?

Within powertrain development simulation, I started in the finite element department as an intern and stayed there as a full-time employee. I worked on strength calculations and structural analysis. Within engine projects, I had two main topics: thermo-mechanical calculation of turbochargers, and later I also had simulation tasks related to electric drives. This series-production development experience later became the basis that enabled me to apply to Audi Formula Racing GmbH.

Had Formula 1 been a long-standing goal for you?

Yes, Formula 1 had been a dream since my childhood. Not in the sense that it was a concrete plan all along, but I always wanted to be close to the automotive industry, and motorsport was there in me as a long-term goal. When I told my maths teacher in secondary school that I wanted to work at Audi and that one day I wanted to work in Formula 1, he noted that Audi was not even involved in Formula 1. I replied at the time: but it still could be. Ten years later, I wrote to him to say that I was going to Audi to work in Formula 1.

How did your application to the Audi Formula Racing GmbH team go?

I completed my master’s degree in the summer of 2022, which was when the first larger recruitment round started for Neuburg, for the engine development team. As a fresh graduate, I did not yet feel that there would be a place for me there, so I did not apply. Half a year later, however, specific positions were advertised, including one that matched exactly what I had been doing in Győr for the previous four years. I applied, and the recruitment process moved very quickly: a technical interview, a general interview, and within two weeks they informed me that they wanted to hire me.

I only found out afterwards that there had been many applicants and that I had not been the first person they interviewed. In the end, they chose me because my experience was a good fit for the position.

What do you work on now in Neuburg?

I carry out structural calculations and strength analyses for the MGU (ed.: Motor Generator Unit). My work includes everything related to the physical design and mechanical behaviour of the component.

What is the working rhythm like in a Formula 1 development team?

I do not have weekend obligations like those who work directly in race support, but the work is very intensive during the week. The year has a predefined rhythm: a two-week shutdown in August, and another week off between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Apart from that, work is continuous, because current race support with the update packages to be introduced and preparation for the following seasons are taking place at the same time.

Although we do not work trackside, but in the development centre, or as it is often called, the factory, practically all information related to the races reaches us immediately. We know which updates are arriving for which race, and in some cases we are also involved in preparing them, together with solving the related logistical and technical tasks. In addition, the race team’s engineers and mechanics also regularly visit us for coordination, so personal relationships develop as well.

What was the transition from Győr to Neuburg like?

I had to move abroad and change professional environments at the same time. Although I basically work with similar engineering methods, the goal, the pace and the circumstances are completely different. Moving from series development into the world of motorsport was a major leap. Today I can say that I have arrived professionally and personally as well, but that took time.

How much of a challenge was the language?

I work in German. In Győr, we also worked a lot with the German parent company, so professionally I had already learned enough German there to get by. Everyday language use, however, is another level. When I arrived, I asked my teammates to speak only German with me. The whole company, and therefore my team as well, is very international: among others, I have Polish, Chinese, French and Italian colleagues with whom I work on a daily basis. Over a little more than three years, I managed to bring the language to a confident level in everyday life as well.

Where does your passion for Formula 1 come from?

My father always watched Formula 1; the broadcast was on at our place every Sunday. We did not miss a single race. It is a childhood “core memory”, a fundamental experience. I liked the sound of it. At first, I only saw that the red car was in front, and at the end they always played the same funny song. This was in the early 2000s, when Michael Schumacher kept winning races with Ferrari and conducted the Italian anthem for the team from the podium. As the years passed, I became increasingly interested in the technical background as well. Not only in the fact that the cars go fast, but in how tenths, hundredths and thousandths of a second matter, and how much engineering work lies behind every small detail. I always asked my father how things worked, and over time I also paid attention to the broadcast. It became part of my life. I have been interested in it and have followed it since my childhood.

What would you say to young engineers who cherish similar dreams?

There are very different paths that can lead here. Some people arrive through student teams, others switch to motorsport after long professional experience, from an expert level. What worked for me was that I worked hard, learned a lot, trained myself and tried to perform in a way that was visible. Diligence, humility and a lot of hard work.

What are your personal goals now that you have made it to Formula 1?

For now, I feel that I have arrived. I had imagined much later that I might one day work for a Formula 1 team, so I am in a good place now. I have smaller and medium-term professional goals: I would like to see more, learn more and develop further within my own field. I have a very personal connection to this project and to Audi’s presence in Formula 1, so I would like to contribute to the team’s work for as long as possible.

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