Delphine Biscaye, Team and Logistics Manager at ROKiT Venturi Racing, is no stranger to pressure. The team is currently second in the ABBA FIA Formula E team standings with only one race weekend left after the London E-Prix.
Two weeks ago in New York, the team had mixed results with a P10 and DNF in the second race of the double-header.
“It was tough in New York for us,” Delphine tells Females in Motorsport at the London race. “So we came back and everybody reconciliated and refocused,”. “The pressure was building but when we arrived here, we can feel the team is a lot different.”
After a long day in the garage on Thursday, the cars are up and ready for racing in London.
“We still have the pressure and as we come closer to the end of the championship, it’s building up, so it's getting worse and worse,” says Delphine. “We did a talk yesterday about this with the Chief Engineer and Team Principal and they insisted on staying calm, going back to the basics.”
As Team Manager, Delphine is closely involved in managing how the team feels and performs.
“The difficulty is when everybody is stressing outside and around me to try to calm them down and to not get their stress,” she says. “That's the most difficult thing and that's something maybe we didn’t do well enough in New York.”
This is the first time back in London for Formula E after covid restrictions have eased. Covid protocol was a big part of Delphine’s role and added extra responsibility.
“It was very difficult and a big stress for us, for everybody in the team, but for the logistics even more because you didn't want to lose anyone somewhere halfway,” she says. “Seoul is still in Covid protocol for us, but it's a lot better than last year.”
Delphine has a background in mechanical engineering, which has prepared her well for her role as she can understand the technical aspects of the cars. She started at Williams Racing in the design office and has experienced the differences between working in a Formula 1 and a Formula E team.
“In Formula E it's different,” she says. “I like the proximity and the fact that you can give your opinion. It's very easy to go and discuss with everybody from the mechanics to Team Principal, Chief Engineer, everybody can discuss.”
Nowadays she’s not working on the cars and, whilst it’s useful to understand what’s going on, it’s not something that she misses.
“I'm not at all involved on the performance anymore,” says Delphine. “But knowing the basics - at least being able to understand if someone explains it to you - makes a big difference.”
For Delphine, the podiums during her time at ROKiT Venturi Racing have been some of the highlights. The first time she went on the podium to represent the team was at Puebla in 2021 after Edoardo Mortara’s victory.
“It was very scary for me,” she says. “The woman from Formula E came and picked me up at the back and on the way to the podium I called my mum because I said ‘you're going to see me for once, you're going to see me. So stay on, stay on, don't turn it off!’”
Other highlights for Delphine include Lucas di Grassi’s podium at the New York E-Prix this year. It was his first podium since the first round of the season in Diriyah.
“Lucas in New York, I got very emotional,” she says. “It was really special because he fought for it for the past races and it was difficult for him to get there, but we knew he could do it.”
As part of the Formula E race weekend, Girls on Track welcomed over 100 local girls to participate in motorsport-related activities. This is part of an ongoing partnership between the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and Formula E. Previous events have taken place in Mexico and Berlin this year.
Delphine’s passion for motorsport developed in later life so for her the popularity of Girls on Track reflects a change in awareness about motorsport.
“When I was younger, I didn't even know motorsport existed, so now I’d say, yes, I’d have loved to do that,” she says. “But, at that time, it's not something I would’ve probably applied because I didn't even know it existed.
“That's where you can see the change, it’s that now little girls know that it exists, and they want to be part of it.”
A cool head and attention to detail are very important in Delphine’s role and it’s clear she’s an essential part of the team. With a strong weekend in London for the outfit, it’s all to play for in Seoul.