Sep 5, 20225 min read

A Bunch of Questions for: Sabré Cook

Updated: Sep 10, 2022

Following on from my interview with Bianca Bustamante, this week I sat down with another female racing star, Colorado native; Sabré Cook.

Sabré has previously raced in America in USF2000, US F4, and with the W Series in 2019 and 2021.

She's not racing this year as she recovers from an injury, but is definitely making plans for next year!

I had the absolute pleasure to sit with her and ask some questions this week, have a read below of what she had to say.

1. What is your earliest racing memory?

My first drive of a go kart, I remember I spun the kart! I was about 8 at the time.

📸 Young Sabré in her kart.

2. What initially made you want to pursue a career in racing?

My dad raced motocross and supercross, but my mom didn’t want me to do that, so I tried out karting and won on the first weekend and I kind of decided from there.

3. You have a ‘Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering’. Has that always been something of interest to you or was it something you’ve picked up?

I was one of the weird ones who actually liked school! Especially science and maths, but I did an engineering course through school and it stuck with me.

4. You worked with the then Renault F1 Team after you graduated; what did you learn from the work you did there?

I worked with Infiniti and then Renault. Mostly about suspension composites and everything to do with them; it was a real experience.

📸 With Renault.

5. How does your engineering background benefit you when you’re driving?

Having an understanding of everything makes it a lot easier to explain things you your own engineer, and be able to explain things in terms you both understand.

📸 Hard at work.

6. You raced in the inaugural W Series campaign(and in 2021); how good has it been for you personally to see the series grow since?

It’s really great. Sharing race weekends with F1 has been a huge boost and the level of competition has gotten higher and higher as the seasons have gone on.

📸 In W Series action.

7. Are you hoping to race in the W Series again?

The plan at the stage is not to for next year; but I’ll be announcing my plans soon!

📸 Sabré in the #37 car.

8. I read about the ‘You’ve just been passed by a girl’ sticker you had a on your kart when you were younger; was that something you chose or was it given to you?

I did not choose it hahaha! I can’t remember if it was my dad or my mom gave it to me but they thought it was a funny thing! I wasn’t a fan!

9. Back to karting again; you inherited a “Driving Miss Daisy” nickname; did that take a while to shake off?

Not really no. I kind of picked it up from my family, and when I got a new kart for Christmas and won my first race with it, it kind of disappeared.

10. What keeps you motivated to race?

I love being challenged! Being able to be challenged is great motivation.

11. What is your greatest racing achievement so far?

I could pick one of a few; becoming SKUSA(Super Kart USA) Champ, my first NOS race win, or possibly my third place at Assen in W Series as well!

📸 The 2019 W Series class of 2019 featuring Sabré(second from right, back row).

12. Who is your racing hero?

Jim Clark.

13. What is your favourite F1 car ever?

This is a tough one; there are so many for so many different reasons. The 1967 Lotus would be a standout for me for sure. Or possibly the Williams with the active suspension, I like that it brought an advancement to the way people thought about things.

📸 Top: The Lotus 49.

📸 Bottom: 1993 Williams FW15C, with the Adrian Newey designed active suspension.

14. What's your favourite circuit you've raced?

Spa or Brands Hatch. Spa is just Spa and Brands Hatch just has a nice feel to it.

📸 Spa. You can't not like it. Sabré runs through La Source.

15. Favourite you've not had the chance to race yet?

Laguna Seca.

📸 IndyCar through the infamous 'Corkscrew' at Laguna Seca.

16. Who is the toughest driver you've raced against so far?

That's also a hard one; a lot of drivers you can analyse and work out how to get by, but if I had to pick Oliver Askew I think. Or maybe Kyle Kirkwood, he's really good! Actually, it's Kyle! Don't tell Oliver hahaha!

📸 Oliver Askew in IndyCar action.

📸 Kyle Kirkwood has stood out as a rookie in IndyCar this year.

17. Is your dream still to race in IndyCar and be an F1 engineer or has that changed?

The dream is definitely IndyCar, that certainly hasn't changed. F1 would be good too, but a lot of what I want to do depends on where I am and what makes sense for me at the time, for example; if I'm living in Europe, F1 would make more sense.

18. Speaking as a fan; F1 is seen as the pinnacle of racing but is only recently starting to make a bigger impact in the US, what can F1 do to make a bigger splash there outside of the NASCAR and IndyCar fan bases?

They're doing a really good job. We have a few races here now and the Netflix series really helped bring people to it as well. I think the only thing would be having an American driver on the grid. Logan Sargeant and Jak Crawford are really well placed for that right now. I've seen 'Jetpack Jak' racing since he was about 6!

📸 Carlin F2 star, Logan Sargeant.

📸 'Jetpack Jak', racing with PREMA in F3 this year.

19. A lot of racing fans own collections of things like scale models of cars or helmets or other miscellaneous items?

Not really! I have a few cars I've collected but they have to be really good or hold a good reason to get it! I think the engineering brain I have just says those kinds of things take up space haha!

20. That's all the questions I have for you! Is there anything you'd like to add in?

If anyone or sponsors are looking for partnerships, I always appreciate it!