The Red Bull F1 superstition the entire team must do before EVERY race

Credit for photo: Red Bull Content Pool x GPFANS — Photo: © IMAGO

Latest F1 News

The Red Bull superstition the entire team must do before EVERY race

A Red Bull insider has shared why the F1 team always does one thing each race weekend

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Friday 27 February 2026 10:55

A member of the Red Bull F1 team has shared the one thing the entire squad must do during every single race weekend, or risk facing consequences.

Red Bull have proved themselves to be masters of strategy in F1, with their pitwall staff having played a pivotal role in helping to guide Max Verstappen through his race strategy on the way to winning four consecutive drivers' championships.

But could it be that Red Bull's imperious form across the last regulations cycle wasn't in fact down to their racing prowess, but instead thanks to always following the lead of a particularly superstitious Head of Race Strategy, Hannah Schmitz.

Article continues under video

Stephen Knowles, who is the Senior Race Strategy Engineer at Red Bull F1, revealed in a recent video on the team's official YouTube channel: "A game Hannah [Schimtz] does, she insists that we step off the pitwall for the national anthem.

The former Mercedes engineer went on to explain where he thought the belief had stemmed from, adding: "I think probably there was a race before I was even at this team where the pitwall stayed sat down on the pitwall for the national anthem and I think there was some catastrophe, so now we've got a superstition that we have to make sure that we stand. We stick to it."

Earlier in the video, Knowles also pointed to Schmitz's unshakeable race weekend attitude when asked to name who at Red Bull had the best etiquette on the pitwall, saying: "Probably Hannah, she's got a very calm, polite demeanor and very rarely breaks out of that character."

F1 HEADLINES: Hamilton and Ferrari face new threat as Horner's 'Frankenstein' warning emerges

Who is Hannah Schmitz?

Hannah Schmitz is often noticeable during the F1 broadcast across a grand prix weekend due to the vital role she plays on the pitwall with the energy drink giants.

Having earned her Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the esteemed University of Cambridge, she joined Red Bull in 2009 as a Modelling and Simulation Engineer and has now worked her way up through the ranks.

Schmitz held the position of Senior Strategy Engineer for a decade at Red Bull before moving up to the position of Principal Strategy Engineer in 2021.

After former Red Bull Head of Race Strategy Will Courtenay announced his intention to leave the team and head for McLaren as their new Sports Director in 2026, Schmitz was named as the ideal replacement to take over, having now moved into that role after Courtenay completed his move to Red Bull's papaya rivals.

Her self confessed favourite memory with Red Bull is one that certainly caught the attention of fans, after she headed up the decision to pit Max Verstappen at the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Schmitz and her strategy squad opted to pit the Dutchman under the safety car, giving up the lead, but Verstappen took that lead back in time to cross the chequered flag first, with Schmitz joining the F1 star on the podium to collect the constructors' trophy.

This is not the only time she has been championed by Red Bull for her split-second pit strategy, as she was also seen on the podium again at the 2025 Qatar GP.

F1 Red Bull