How to be prepared for when luck finds you: Farah AlYousef

Sometime in the middle of a Tuesday afternoon, I opened Instagram, and the first thing I saw was a familiar face dressed in F1 Academy overalls - instantly bringing a grin to my face. I was beyond happy for Farah, of course, but I realized very quickly that I wasn’t just looking at “Breaking News” anymore - I was witnessing something Farah had once said to me during our chat in Abu Dhabi come to life in real time. She said:

Shameem Fahath (a friend and collaborator on this project) and I had been chasing Farah for two weekends by then. We kept missing each other or got caught up in the bustle of things. But I was always kept in the loop on her progress and effort by her driver coach at Evans GP - and our good friend- Alister Yoong. A proven winner in single-seater racing, Alister’s training throughout the season meant that by the tail end, Farah had shaved off multiple seconds from her lap times. Working with a team of experienced engineers at Evans GP, that progress was the biggest goal for her at the Formula 4 Middle East Championship.

Just as the season had nearly wrapped up and the F4 sessions were about to close, we managed to jump into Alister’s rental car and drive to the W Hotel - finally fitting in a 20-minute conversation with Farah, albeit with the roaring ALMS cars in the background (inescapable, of course).

One thing stood out throughout our conversation: a quiet but resolute theme of commitment and immense self-belief. In hindsight, I’m convinced Farah always knew she’d make it to F1 Academy. Not in an overconfident way, but in a deeply grounded belief that hard work and consistent effort would earn her results. A big part of that, she said, was blocking out the naysayers and challenging conventional beliefs about being a woman in motorsports:

“It's kind of typical and it's a common story to say that it's a male-dominant field and being a female in this field, it wasn't very welcoming for me to join. So, keeping myself not safe, but just focused on constantly improving has been significantly playing a huge role in me just not hearing these comments or me not just focusing too much about them.”

I wasn’t entirely convinced. It’s practically impossible to block out the noise as a human being - unless living under a rock was an option. Farah agreed, but had a more practical approach: just keep swimming.

“The most important thing is just to get up again and just to keep pushing and just do it regardless. If you're doubting yourself, just do it. If you're confident, do it, of course. If you're feeling it, do it. If you're not feeling it, definitely do it.”

I assume this knowledge comes from living it. She jumped from rental karts to Radical cars to single-seaters, having started only at the age of 16 - an unconventional path for anyone in the industry; even more so for someone coming from Saudi Arabia.

“Saudi (Arabia) has a deep culture, a bold vision and amazing things... And to be able to showcase that passion is an honour for me,”

she said, speaking about being one of the very few female racing drivers from Saudi Arabia.

Her unorthodox career path has brought her to this exact point where she can proudly represent the rising powerhouse of sports, Saudi Arabia, on a global platform like F1 Academy. When I asked her how she manages expectations and maintains her outlook on thriving - not just in motorsports, but in life - she offered a thoughtful perspective:

“I had to find my advantage and kind of my strength point in entering such a dominant and a strong field, a strong sport. So, mine is just having a good technical knowledge and having a technical mind. Having studied aerospace engineering and still am, has given me a good advantage of trusting the car quicker than the other drivers understand how it actually and properly works and react to different elements of a track.”

As someone who believes in approaching life the way athletes approach their sport, this resonated with me. Everyone needs their version of an “unfair” advantage - a skill, an experience, a mindset - something that sets you apart. Once identified and trained, it becomes a repeatable strength that brings you closer to your goals. For Farah, that advantage is her technical mindset and her age - both of which help her process and contextualize information better than most.

Farah took on the next big challenge of her career after the ultra-competitive Middle East F4 Championship: F1 Academy last weekend in Jeddah.The platform brings the best female talent from across the globe into the spotlight of Formula 1. A big spotlight that would faze anybody jumping in from grassroot level motorsport to F1A let alone rental karts. She finished both races of the weekend without any incidents, making the best use of all sessions of the weekend.

Win or lose, the message is rather simple: she isn’t chasing someone else’s timeline, nor is she changing course on her unconventional path. Her unwavering trust in timing and circumstances is perhaps her greatest strength.

“In my vision and in my perception, I think everything is just happening on the perfect time, on the perfect road. And as long as I keep pushing as much as I can and to my best abilities, definitely good results will come up.”

Having completed her first F1 Academy race, Farah is a representation for the rising generation of athletes from Saudi Arabia who are writing new rules and building blueprints for those coming next. Her presence on the grid is the perfect testament to what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

And perhaps that’s the most powerful kind of luck there is.