Sauber ambassador Carrie Schreiner reflects on her 2024 season, her career achievements, and shares her prospects on what lies ahead.
Barely back from her Christmas vacation on Lake Constance and in Dubai, the young German has already returned from the peace and quiet to the busy world of appointments and meetings. However, the stress hasn’t dampened Carrie Schreiner’s trademark good mood.
In a short interview, Schreiner recaps her recent achievements, shares insights on her career highs and lows, and offers a glimpse into her future aspirations.
"Unfortunately, I was ill last Christmas and that dragged on quite a bit. The season continued straight away in January," Carrie recalls, looking back on the very start of her 2024 year. The intense season, combined with rigorous training and races, prolonged her recovery.
However, she's now over the hill and has fully recovered. This Christmas, however, it was a more relaxing one. "We had a quiet Christmas and that alone was enough of a gift, to be healthy, to have peace and quiet and to be able to calm down again. It's only when you're ill that you appreciate how important health actually is."
The 2024 season began for the Saarland-native, who was still ill at the time, with AGI Sport in Abu Dhabi in the Formula 4 UAE Championship. Competing in strong F4 fields, including in Formula Winter Series, Carrie found it challenging to hold her own. "I didn't really expect to be at the top", she says.
"It was mainly about gaining experience for the F1 Academy and preparing myself as well as possible for it. It served that purpose."
"Of course it would have been nicer to be further up the field, but it was difficult, especially when I could only make guest starts in ongoing championships."
Carrie had previously demonstrated her ability to succeed in guest appearances, such as in the Porsche Sports Cup, where she became the first woman to claim an overall victory.
"That was one of my first big successes in GT racing in the Porsche Sports Cup," the 26-year-old recalls. Further seasons in the Italian GT Championship and ADAC GT Masters followed, where she secured a podium finish at Hockenheim on her 21st birthday in 2019. Known for its highly competitive field, the ADAC GT Masters is considered the strongest series below the DTM in Germany.
Participation in these championships was a success in itself - an achievement that Schreiner would like to keep building on: "If I had the opportunity to drive in the DTM, I would do it too. But it's damn hard. On the one hand, the strong competition, but also financing it is becoming more and more difficult. DTM would always be cool and if I got an offer, I wouldn't say no."
Among her biggest successes of 2024, Schreiner obviously highlights signing a contract with the Sauber F1 team. "At the time, I was 25, I never thought I would get a contract with a Formula 1 team", she says. "That was pretty cool and it wasn't easy to even get a place in the F1 Academy in the second year."
But that wasn't all: Carrie also excelled on the Nordschleife. "At the 24 Hours of Nürburgring we came third in the class and were able to secure a class win at the end of the season", she adds. This marked her ninth class victory with the GirlsOnly team, tying her with two-time Le Mans overall winner Romain Dumas on the all-time list.
She also cites the Formula E test in Spain as another topical moment of the year gone by, as "some of the best women in the world took part". But above all, her new position as Sauber F1 Team brand ambassador is source of pride: "It's great that the team wants to keep me on to represent the team and act as a mentor for the new drivers."
"I am very grateful for this opportunity and also for the opportunity to drive the places and tracks with the F1 Academy together with Formula 1, something I would never have achieved otherwise."
Plans for the 2025 are largely in place, although some details remain yet to be set. "I will definitely continue to drive with GirlsOnly on the Nordschleife, and of course I would like to drive in GT3 again", she tells us. "The goal would be of course to drive in the ADAC GT Masters again, but that is not yet set in stone."
"We are currently in negotiations with teams. I hope that something will come of it soon."
Due to her position at Sauber and the takeover of the team by Audi, her choices will likely involve Audi or Lamborghini machinery, aligning with the team’s direction, most likely in the ADAC GT Masters. "Anything other than these vehicles would make no sense as a Sauber team brand ambassador." She remains optimistic despite Audi's withdrawal from GT racing: "There are still teams that use the Audi GT3", she says, also mentioning that she will also enter at least two races in the GT Winter Series.
When asked about the GirlsOnly programme, Schreiner acknowledges the team's ambition to make the jump to the GT3 class in NLS. "But of course it is difficult to finance it, that is why it hasn't happened so far", she explains. "If we had the sponsors for it, there is actually little standing in the way of that. The team is also well positioned in terms of the driver line-up, especially since not all drivers have a Nordschleife permit. Therefore, next year we can expect an exciting season and battles for the top of the class."
Looking at a more distant future, championships such as IMSA or WEC, with the 24 Hours of Le Mans, would be the German driver's goals. "Of course it's a dream or a goal, but the opportunity has to arise first", she comments. "If someone offered it to me, I would of course accept it, but so far it just hasn't come up. Who knows, never say never."
She remains also open to prototypes, as well as Formula E - following her tests over the years in the electric formula, where Schreiner says she could imagine herself being involved. On the other hand, she would be less interested in a possible class for electric vehicles in the NLS.
Her main goal however remains clear: "to score as many wins and points as possible and ultimately to be able to make a living from motorsport. That would be my dream, I think that's more important than anything else."
With a Formula 1 team contract, Carrie has come one step closer to this dream. "Motorsport is expensive and every sponsor helps to be able to take part in the races at all", she continues.
And it is exactly for the high costs of motorsport that sim racing continues to enjoy growing popularity, with Schreiner approaching it not just as a hobby. "During the Covid pandemic, I also got my simulator and now I realize how important the preparation is", she explains.
"At first it was difficult for me because I had no idea about this technology and had to race straight away, so of course it was a real pain at first and that made me lose interest a bit. Now I have realized how important it is and I enjoy it too."
Additionally, Carrie also praises sim racing for its accessibility, increasingly bringing young people into the sport. "There are also examples like Tim Heinemann, who successfully made it from there into the real car", she mentions. At the moment, Schreiner uses the simulator exclusively for her own on-track preparation, not driving in online races.
"You have to invest a lot of time to get to the front and always keep at it. I think the time is too precious for that, because I have to travel so much and train for the real experience. If I had more time, maybe, but I'm too ambitious for just doing it now and then."
There isn't much time left in the life of a racing driver, whose hobbies therefore mainly consist of fitness and traveling. When comparing sim racing and reality, Carrie sees both as having their advantages and disadvantages: "In general, I think sim racing is pretty cool when you're in contact with other people and can compete in big races together as a team."
Schreiner has raced an incredibly wide variety of race cars over her ten years in the sport, from formula cars to GT machines of every brand and specification, becoming one of the most versatile female drivers of this generation. However, following in the footsteps of other well-known racing legends such as Kimi Räikkönen, Fernando Alonso or Valentino Rossi, who completely changed disciplines over the course of their careers, is not something Carrie Schreiner is particularly thinking about. "We rented a jeep on vacation in Dubai and drove through the desert and I got stuck on the first mountain. I would definitely not be a born Dakar driver", she jokes. "Rallying is so difficult and dangerous, I have a huge amount of respect for the drivers and especially the co-drivers.”
A constant of her career, however, is her gratitude for her fans, who have been supporting her through every career steps and are also looking forward to her next chapter in motorsport. “I feel very well supported by my fans", she concludes.
As the new season approaches, with clear goals in mind, Carrie’s ambition and talent will surely continue to draw attention.
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