Zsofi Bertha: “Motorsport journalism is not as easy as it looks on screen”

Zsofi Bertha is an FIA-accredited sports journalist looking to build a career in motorsport, particularly in writing, communications, and digital media.

She writes sports and lifestyle articles, news stories, race reports, and interviews for Sportime Magazin in both print and digital formats. She has also recently collaborated with Padel Magazine.

Her accreditation experience includes the 2025 Hungarian GP (F2 and F3), the 2026 Barcelona GP (F2 and F3), and the 2026 Hungarian GP (F1).

Her long-term goal is to join an F1, F2, or F3 communications team full-time, while continuing to explore freelance opportunities in motorsport journalism.

“I start by going through who I want to interview and coming up with ideas for feature articles,” Zsofi tells Females in Motorsport. “I write daily race reports covering the day's happenings, and I always try to do at least two interviews.

“Barcelona was probably my best work yet. I wrote a feature about drivers with F1 heritage, including Sebastián Montoya, Brando Badoer, Emmo Fittipaldi Jr, and Fernando Barrichello. I also interviewed Nikola Tsolov, so I ended up with two feature articles from the weekend.

“Once I have my ideas, I submit them to my editor-in-chief for review. Once they're approved, I start preparing my interview questions.”

With so many journalists covering the same race and interviewing the same drivers, it can be difficult to come up with questions that stand out. Finding a different angle and asking questions that go beyond the usual race-related topics is what makes an interview unique.

“When I have feature ideas, I can prepare my questions in advance,” she says. “But when I want to ask drivers about their races, I have to come up with questions on the spot. 

You don't have much time because once a session ends, they have to go to their debrief. Sometimes you only have 10 minutes to prepare and conduct the interview.

“It requires experience. When you're starting out, you obviously struggle a bit, but after doing so many sessions, you get better at it. It's not just about covering three race weekends, but at least 18 sessions. “You have to think really fast and pay close attention to the drivers you want to speak to while watching the races.”

Working in the media centre comes with its own challenges. Journalists often have to follow multiple screens without commentary, keep track of timings, and watch the race closely while preparing questions. Interviews also require quick thinking, as one answer can lead to an entirely different question. With so many journalists covering the same sessions, finding a unique angle while keeping up with the action is far from easy.

“One of the biggest differences is that when you're at the track, you can't hear the commentary, which makes following everything more difficult,” she says.

“I usually prefer watching from a specific corner, seeing the action in real life while also following the race on my phone. When you're reporting from the track, you have to go back and review the footage to make sure you've caught everything, and you don't have much time because the article needs to be published that same day.

“When I'm at home, I can write the report while watching the race on TV. But what makes being at the track much more fun is getting to speak to the drivers after the races. In F2 and F3, I try to get as many quotes as possible, ask drivers questions, and incorporate their insights into my articles.

“You can't really get that same experience when you're reporting from home.”

Behind every race report, there is so much more work than most people realise. From trying to keep up with everything happening on track to finding drivers for a quick interview before they disappear into their next commitment, there is barely a moment to slow down. And with deadlines always around the corner, there is a constant pressure to get everything right and get the story out on time. As Zsofi’s experience shows, being a motorsport journalist is not just about loving racing. It takes a lot of hard work, patience, and being ready for the unexpected. What looks like a few minutes of reading or a quick interview to us is often hours of work behind the scenes.