Hannah Schmitz: Calmness is the most important quality of a strategist

Red Bull Racing Chief Strategist Hanna Schmitz is the co-author of many of the team’s victories. She rarely makes mistakes, her work and Red Bull strategy are often cited as an example. In the Beyond the Ordinary podcast, Schmitz talked about the most important success factor.

Hannah Schmitz: “I like to work according to a plan, to be as prepared as possible for any situation. When my family and I plan to go somewhere, I collect everything I need the night before. That’s how it is in racing. I study many different scenarios and think about all the possible consequences. I always have a schedule of what the result may be depending on the development of events in the race and some unexpected situations.

Working as a strategist has taught me to adapt, change my approach depending on the events that take place in the race, without getting bogged down in my plan. And the more races I spend, the more experience I build. I meditate a lot – it helps to stay calm, which is very important when the situation gets tense in the race.

The strategist’s job is to remain calm when everyone else is excited about something. I was once told that simply holding your hands upside down makes your words and decisions feel more confident. Sometimes I do it in the middle of a race to get my focus back. I believe calmness is one of the most important qualities of a strategist.”