This feature was written by one of Essaar’s social media managers, George Howson, after he was able to sit down with the Fast Female behind the Instagram account F1 Meme Queen (@f1_memequeen).
While I was travelling around Europe this summer, I attended the Hungarian Grand Prix, which was the second race I have been to in person. The queue for the train back to Budapest was about a mile long, so I decided to take shelter and make the most of the £1 pints they were pouring in the nearby pub. This turned out to be the right decision, as I met a young girl with a passion for Formula 1 that I have rarely seen before. Her name is Katie, but her fans know her as the F1 Meme Queen. At just 12-years-old, she has set up an Instagram page that has amassed over 2,000 followers in a single year, and she is looking towards a bright future in motorsport media.
For comparison, at her age, I had only just gotten into motorsport after a young driver called Lewis Hamilton had burst onto the F1 scene, and social media was still extremely primitive compared to what it is now.
I contacted her again for an interview, as I feel she has a unique story to tell, and I was not disappointed. Here’s the best of the conversation:
Q: What’s your first motorsport memory?
A: One of the boys in my class was into it [F1] and I was mildly interested so I decided to watch the next race, which was the 2015 Canadian GP. I got hooked on the sport straight away.
Q: Why did you setup the Instagram account?
A: I started it because I always thought of funny things about F1 and I wanted to share them with people.
Q: You have nearly 2,500 followers now, a real accomplishment for such a young fan. Congratulations on that! What’s your next goal?
A: I’m not really sure about a “goal” I just keep posting and I’ll see where I get.
Q: Are you interested in working in motorsport one day?
A: Yes I am, more in the media side rather than engineering or driving, though. Working in television for F1 would be my dream job.
Q: Who is your favourite current driver?
A: Daniel Ricciardo. He’s so smiley and he genuinely seems like a nice guy as well. Plus, he’s got amazing skills as a driver.
Q: Who would you say, in your opinion, is the best Formula 1 driver of all time?
A: All-time is Ayrton Senna. From the video clips I’ve watched of him, he seems like he had a certain grace and power about the way he drove and was probably the fastest over 1 lap as well.
Q: What about the fastest driver since you’ve been watching?
A: Since I’ve been watching, it’s either Fernando Alonso or Lewis Hamilton. Alonso has proven his class by getting good results even in uncompetitive cars, while Hamilton has won many races, some easy but some hard and challenging and his qualifying pace is always outstanding.
Q: You’ve been to the Hungarian Grand Prix and seemed to thoroughly enjoy yourself. If you could to another race, which one would it be?
A: I’d love to go to either Baku or Singapore. Street circuits are my favourite type of track and the scenery and culture of those countries would make them a cool place to visit, not to mention the weather as well.
Q: Do you think there needs to be more women in motorsport?
A: Yes, I do think there needs to be more women in F1. There are so many female fans and I think they should be involved in the sport rather that just watching it. In terms of how to achieve that, I’m not sure, but programmes like dare to be different are giving people a start.
If you want to add a bit of banter and brevity to your Formula 1 social media followings, follow @F1_memequeen on Instagram.
