As McLaren’s first female driver, Emma Gilmour had already made history, but she followed that up by delivering on the excitement her arrival brought, winning us our first podium in Extreme E.

By her own admission, everything Emma has achieved since joining the NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team has exceeded any expectations she had growing up. As a young child from Dunedin, New Zealand, Emma dreamt of becoming an Olympic equestrian. She found motorsport later on and set her sights on rallying – a form of motorsport McLaren weren’t competing in at the time.

She sits in front of us now having achieved those dreams. Emma is a three-time New Zealand Rally Championship runner-up, and the first woman to enter the Global Rallycross Championship, to name just two highlights from her career to date.

Emma helped NEOM McLaren to our second XE podium in the recent Hydro X-Prix and her incredible journey should provide inspiration to so many who not only dream of being a racing driver, but of working in motorsport.

Following the release of our second sustainability report, and ahead of International Women in Engineering Day, we sat down with Emma to discuss her own inspirations, the impact she has had driving for McLaren, and to find out how she keeps on top of her mental health and wellbeing.

You’ve previously spoken about a ‘pinch me’ feeling you got when you first visited the McLaren Technology Centre. Do you still get this feeling?

Coming from New Zealand, I grew up horse riding as a little girl, so I can honestly say that racing for McLaren was never on my radar as a child, but I was very aware of the McLaren name and how proud New Zealand was of the legacy that Bruce created with the brand.

I grew up around cars, my dad was a mechanic, and I found motorsport myself later. In comparison to how young a lot of children start go-karting, I was a latecomer. I was also a rally driver, and so I never imaged that my path would cross with McLaren, so to get a call from Zak [Brown] when the team were joining Extreme E, I wouldn’t even say it was a dream come true, I would say that it was a fairytale. It still feels amazing to walk in the MTC, it still gives me goosebumps. I feel like I am living a fairytale, it is really special.

You were McLaren’s first female driver, your car is on the factory Boulevard, your portrait is on the walls, and your two podium trophies are in our cabinet. What impact can all of this have on inspiring young women who want to work in motorsport?

As the saying goes, you need to be able to see it to be it. So it is important to be a role model for not only the next generation of females who want to work in motorsport but also the current generation. It is empowering for women to see other women competing on the world stage in sport and mixing it with the guys.

That is where Extreme E leads the way because it showcases that women can shine when they are given an opportunity. I am super proud to be representing NEOM McLaren and to be doing it in a series that is promoting women in motorsport.

Personally, I compete in motorsport because I love it: the buzz of driving a car fast is what keeps me going through the tough times and the disappointments. I love chasing my dreams and overcoming those disappointments and showing resilience. Through that, I hope it shows people what can be achieved, and I hope that inspires people to follow their hearts and to keep going even when it gets tough because that is when great things can happen.

What is really cool about our team is that we have two amazing engineers that also happen to be female in Leena and Teena Gade. In motorsport, the spotlight is on the drivers, and I think that it is often overlooked that there are so many amazing roles within a racing team that are all crucial to the success. There are so many ways, other than purely driving, to be involved in a motorsport team.

What about social media - which has its positives and negatives - how can you, as a NEOM McLaren Extreme E driver, use this to impact the world positively?

Social media can be very, very good, but it can also be damaging, depending on how it is used, so it is important to use it in a positive way. I don’t follow pages that leave me feeling bad.

But I have also always tried to be very honest about my journey on there because it hasn’t been smooth. There have been many disappointments, and prior to my time with McLaren, there were times when I've questioned my resolve or whether I want to keep doing this as a career, but all of that got me to where I am now.  

If I only showed off the highlights on social media, then that wouldn’t be a fair representation of my journey. I think you’ve got to be authentic and genuine. And if you do that, people don’t feel as alone, myself included, and that is the nice thing about social media if it is used correctly.

How do you stay on top of your own health and wellbeing?

I need fitness. I've just been travelling, and because of that, I had gotten out of that routine I normally have at home. I was able to get back into the routine this week and get back to the gym, and it's amazing how much it helps with everything from anxiety to sleep and my general mood. So, exercise is a big one for me.

I also work with a sports psychologist to help with the performance side of my driving and with a therapist too. If you have the ability to access that, it is an amazing thing because adulting can be hard at times.

As well as being a racing driver, you run your own business. Do you find it stressful trying to juggle both?

Sometimes. I am thankful for having a good team in the business back home and also a good team that helps run my rally car in New Zealand.

I do find that owning a business on my own can at times feel lonely. I think everybody can feel lonely at times, no matter whether you have a large group of friends or if you are in a relationship – it can affect us all, but it is something that we don’t really talk about. Having the support of a professional helps me a lot with that.

Having a good support group of family and friends is essential. People that fill your cup up and recharge your battery. You’ve got to make time to catch up with those people. Having good people around you is really important for your mental health and strength. And also having those good people for support and advice.

When you were growing up, who were you inspired by?

I was most inspired by Mark Todd, a double Olympic equestrian. He had won Olympic gold, which was what I wanted to do when I grew up, and he was such a dominant horse rider.

Then as I got involved in motorsport, there was a New Zealand driver called Possum Bourne, who I looked up to. What I liked about Possum when he was competing was that you could see that he loved what he was doing. Sometimes, athletes can get so caught up in trying to win every time that they end up looking like they’re having the worst day of their life when being interviewed. Whereas Possum always looked like he was doing something that he loved, and that zest for it always came across

Another one worth mentioning is Colin McCrae, who helped me to get into motorsport because it was his game on the PlayStation that I grew up playing. When I started to watch rally, he was really exciting to watch, and you could see that he loved what he did.