In a factory hidden among the fields of Enstone, England, you can hear the metallic hum of tools, compressed air and the murmur of engineers fine-tuning parts to the millimeter. That’s where the Alpine F1 car comes to life before hitting the asphalt, and where a firm voice organizes the mechanical symphony. Dalia Carolina Ramos Guerra (Mexico City, 1989), mechatronics engineer from the Tecnológico de Monterrey and a master’s degree in Manufacturing Engineering and Management from the University of Nottingham, leads the team’s assembly and testing department. Her official title is Head of Build and Test, a position that makes her ultimately responsible for ensuring that every component of the car is safe, precise and fast.
“Basically I am responsible for all the mechanical assembly of the car and for all the mechanical tests that we do for the championship car and the previous cars that are used in tests or training at the Academy,” Ramos explains to Forbes, in a telephone conversation. “My area is divided into six different areas: we assemble the entire hydraulic system, the suspension, the gasoline system, the gearbox, the brakes and also the chassis components and the spoilers. In addition, we do all the mechanical tests to check the functionality and, above all, that they are safe to use.”
It must be said that every F1 car that leaves the Alpine workshop has passed through the hands of the team led by Dalia. They are the ones who carry out the pre-assemblies before the car travels to the circuit. “We try to send the most complete pre-assembly possible,” he says. “When the car is in the factory and it is assembled there, I have a group of mechanics who are in charge of doing it. Then, the Race Team finish putting it together during the race weekend.”
At first glance, the function seems purely technical, but behind it there is a logistical mechanism of surgical precision. “I am also in charge of all the homologation with the FIA,” he adds. “At the beginning of each year we have to check that our car is safe for the drivers. There is the famous crash test which is done in both street cars and F1 cars, and I am in charge of those tests.”
The work doesn’t stop there, but continues after each race. If a car suffers an impact or shows wear, its team receives it to repair it, provide maintenance and coordinate spare parts. “If there is an incident, my team evaluates the car, makes the repair and makes sure to maintain the stock of pieces. We coordinate with Race Team the entire flow of components. “We are the last phase before the car returns to the track.”
Alpine F1 employs around 900 people, although less than 10% travel to the circuit. “We are talking about 60 or 65 operational passes to be in the race,” details Ramos Guerra. “That means that more than 90% of the team works from the factory to make the weekend possible. We are a large team that operates behind the scenes, Monday to Sunday, 24/7, to keep everything running.”
Regarding her meticulous work, the interviewee says that the factory is divided into two worlds: “that of aerodynamics, where we work with models at 60% of the actual size for the wind tunnel,” and that of full scale, where Dalia directs part of the operations. “We take care of making the car tangible,” he says. “From design and manufacturing to testing and validation. Everything fans see every weekend at the track starts here.”
During the Grand Prix, his team maintains constant contact with the engineers who travel with the car. “We have something we call the UPS Roomwhere a group follows everything that happens in real time. It’s like having a second race truck, but in the factory,” he says. “If during a race the driver wants to adjust something of the steering wheel (steering wheel), or if there is a problem with the hydraulic system, the circuit engineers consult us and we give the guide. “Sometimes we even repair parts overnight and return them to the track at dawn.”
The description sounds like a living organism, a system that never sleeps. “In operations we have no confusion, no rest,” he says, laughing. “Our goal is to do everything humanly possible—and sometimes the impossible—so that the car is ready on Sunday.”
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Between repairs, regulations and precision
The engineering of a Formula 1 car is so sophisticated that any detail can define a race. “The entire car is serviced and planned maintenance, from a spoiler to the smallest part of the suspension,” he explains. “But in terms of repairs due to incidents, the first thing that is damaged is the chassis and the components that are attached to it. The wings are vulnerable, the floor is also vulnerable, and the suspension is critical because it can suffer overloads.”
Not everything can be repaired freely: FIA imposes restrictions. “For example, last year you couldn’t open a gearbox without the supervision of the FIA,” says Ramos. “Everything that was done to the car was limited. The same thing happens with the power unit: you can only use a certain number and if you change it or open it without authorization, there is a penalty. That makes the competition more interesting, but also more difficult.”
Before coming to Formula 1, Ramos Guerra worked for six years at Rolls-Royce in the aerospace industry. “There I learned what it means to work with minimum tolerances and very high safety standards,” he recalls. But in 2021, in the middle of the pandemic, he received the call that would change his life. “I was at my parents’ house in Mexico when they interviewed me for the first time. The interview was scheduled for an hour and turned into three. We flowed so much that in the end I felt that something very good was happening.”
His father, also an engineer, was anxiously waiting for the end of that call. “My parents and my grandmother were waiting for me to come down to tell them how it had gone. When I came down and told them that it had lasted three hours, everyone was worried. I just told them: ‘I think it went very well.'”
Days later she was invited to Alpine’s headquarters in England for a round of interviews with the directors. “They came in two by two, each group lasting an hour and a half. Everyone interviewed me, from the technical director to the human resources director. In the end they told me that they felt I was the right person.”
However, the then head of operations had a concern. “He told me: ‘I want to offer you the job, but I’m worried that you don’t feel comfortable. We’re all British men here, there’s very little diversity,'” she recalls. “I responded that I was used to it. Since university and at Rolls-Royce I was always surrounded by men. I know it’s a challenge, but I always come out victorious.”
Shortly after, he received the formal offer. “The CFO, who was one of the few women in the company, called me and said, ‘I have no doubt that you are ready for this.’ That same night I had the offer on the table.”
Breaking barriers at Enstone
Even so, the beginning was not easy. “I arrived without having ever worked in Formula 1, being a woman, a foreigner and younger than many of my colleagues,” she says. “Of the three managers who reported to me, all three had applied for the position. One of them told me directly: ‘I’m not going to report to a woman who doesn’t know what she’s doing.’ She resigned immediately,” he says he told her.
Another tried to maintain control. “He wanted to convince me that I was wrong about everything. That did affect my first results a little, but eventually I realized that it was unsustainable. When he left the team, I managed to completely turn the area around.”
His style was gaining ground, with results. “The last manager doubted me, but in the end it became one of my biggest success stories. I helped him develop in a way that not even he expected. It was difficult, but today I have a team that I am proud of.”
It must be said that his leadership philosophy was formed in his first job, at Procter & Gamble Mexico. “There they told me something that I never forgot: ‘the team doesn’t work for you, you work for them,’” he says. “That idea of leadership from service is what I always apply.”
However, his human vision is reflected in the results. Alpine has improved efficiency in the assembly and testing processes under its management, reducing validation times and increasing the car’s reliability. “The leadership style that I learned in Mexico, more horizontal, has been key,” he says.
Speaking to the future: the coming F1
The conversation changes tone when he is asked about the future. Dalia speaks with enthusiasm about the regulations that will arrive in 2026. “What Formula 1 is looking for is for the competition to be more sustainable. The size of the car will be reduced, it will be easier to pass and there will be more electric part in the power unit. But the fans don’t want to see an electric car, they want to see gasoline, sound, adrenaline,” he says. “The challenge is to maintain that emotion, but mitigating the environmental impact.”
From his technical position, he sees the changes as an opportunity. “We will have to adapt everything: from the size of the car to the incorporation of new hydraulic systems in the wings and pods. It is a completely new technology. We will have to figure out how to assemble it, test it and ensure its performance.”
The enthusiasm is evident in his voice. “We love playing with prototypes. Searching for a competitive advantage, improving performance by milliseconds. Those are the differences that exist between teams,” he explains. “Even before knowing the new regulations, we were already generating ideas. We wanted to know: how am I going to assemble it?”
The future will also bring new names to the grid: “With the entry of teams like Cadillac and General Motors, the competition opens up much more,” he points out. “The differences between teams will be smaller and that will make the competition more interesting. That diversity returns a little: everyone will have the opportunity to compete closely.”
For the engineer, this openness is a reflection of the growth of Formula 1. “Diversity is not only in the teams, but also in the people. For a Mexican to lead a technical area in a British team is something that was previously unthinkable,” she says. “But more and more of us come from other industries, from other countries. That enriches the sport.”
Therefore, in a sporting discipline where perfection is measured in thousandths, Ramos Guerra represents a new generation of leaders: technical, empathetic and global. “I always say that Formula 1 is not just about speed. It is a human symphony, a network of thousands of decisions that come together for a car to cross the finish line.”
Its story—from Mexico City to Enstone, from Rolls-Royce to Alpine—is also a statement: the paths to the top of engineering are no longer traced from a single country, nor a single gender. “It has been difficult, yes,” he admits. “But when I see my team, when I hear that engine start, I think: this was all worth it.”
This article was originally published in the special print F1 edition of Forbes Mexico for October 2025.
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