Karolina Bulisova: “Race days are not the easiest”

Karolina Bulisova is a Czech sports journalist, TV presenter, and content creator who has spent the past two and a half years covering Formula 1. But for her, covering the sport has never been just about what happens on Sunday.

While the racing naturally takes centre stage, Karolína is interested in the stories that exist beyond the track, the businesses drivers build, the people behind the teams, and the passions that shape them away from the cockpit.

“I’m trying to pinpoint the stories around and not only at the racetrack,” she tells Females in Motorsport. “I think it’s interesting to see the drivers and also the team principals and all the people behind the teams. What they are doing, and what their mission and passion are.”

Her curiosity also extends to what happens on the other side of the microphone. Spending race weekends in the media pen has given her an up-close look at just how demanding life in Formula 1 can be for the drivers.

“They get out of the car and then they have to stand there for an hour giving interviews,” she says.  “All of us are basically asking the same questions but I try my best to be different.”

For fans watching from home, it may be easy to forget just how much happens behind the few seconds of an interview that eventually makes it onto television. Drivers can face multiple broadcasters, answering variations of the same questions while tired, immediately after pushing themselves to the limit on track.

“That’s the part I think the fans sometimes don’t get to see,” she says. “You see the interview on TV, but you don’t see the story and how long it takes for them.”

On the other side, it is also quite stressful for journalists.

“You need to be some kind of psychologist, maybe,” she says. “You have to take into account what their result was, what somebody has said after the race, or what was said in the team radio.

“It’s not only about what’s the question, but also how you put it into words. The longer I do the interviews, the more you get to know the drivers. You just learn who’s more direct and who’s more on the funny, jokey side.

“When they learn that you are not going to give them some tricky questions or something, they are also more open to you.”

Being prepared is only one part of being a journalist. Interviews also require constant multitasking and the ability to read the room. A journalist has to listen to what is being said around them, observe the person they are speaking to, and adjust their questions based on the mood and situation. 

“I’m trying to place the question kind of a bit differently for the drivers to maybe give the answer longer,” she says.

“It’s a lot of work and it always just flies by. The hardest part for me when I’m doing the interviews post-quali and post-race is that I actually don’t see the race.”

While there is a screen available, it doesn't always have commentary and can be difficult to follow from the media pen. With hundreds of people trying to use the same network, even getting a reliable internet connection can become a challenge. Karolína often finds herself relying on her phone and social media to keep track of what is happening on track so she can prepare for the interviews that follow.

The experience has also changed the way she looks at the people who work in Formula 1 week after week. The constant travel, changing time zones and long hours don't only affect the drivers. Mechanics, PR teams, journalists and other paddock personnel are constantly moving from one place to another.

Despite the exhaustion that comes with it, she still enjoys being at the circuit. She likes the contrast between experiencing a race weekend in person and watching from home, although she admits she couldn't imagine doing every single race from the track.

“I like both,” she says. “Race days are not the easiest. I can’t imagine doing every race from the racetrack.”