Kenya’s FIA HPP graduate gaining invaluable experience as Stewards’ Observer
For Kenyan motor sport professional and graduate of the FIA High Performance Programme, Tuta Mionki, 2024 offered an invaluable opportunity to immerse herself in the world of stewarding at the highest possible level, through experience gained in both FIA Formula 1 World Championship and the FIA World Rally Championship
Mionki’s motor sport journey stared in her native Kenya, also the home of the Safari Rally, an iconic fixture on the FIA World Rally Championship calendar. She began her career as a rally co-driver over a decade ago. “I started out in motor sport in 2011 in Kenya as a rally co-driver and rallied until around 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic, of course, there was little happening with motor sport” she said during this year’s Qatar Grand Prix, her second Formula 1 event as Observer to FIA Formula 1 Stewards.
“I felt like I needed to exit the active competition but still remain in motor sport,” she explains. Conversations with experienced stewards in Kenya opened up a new chapter. “One of them talked to me about stewarding, which I felt is something that I can do. Based on my background in human resource and labour laws, I thought there was a bit of a connection with how a steward is basically a judge.”
After completing regional training in Africa and the FIA International Steward’s Training in 2022, the following year Mionki, a member of Kenya Motorsport Federation, joined the FIA High Performance Programme, an initiative which provides tailored education and mentorship to prepare stewards and race directors for roles at FIA World Championship-level events. “I did two days [at FIA office] in Geneva, training with other HPP members, doing both race control and stewarding,” she recalls.
Her first taste of Formula 1 came the same year when she was invited as Observer to Imola for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Though the event was cancelled due to severe flooding, she soon had another opportunity at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. “It was an exciting experience – seeing how decisions are made, sitting in hearings, being able to ask questions,” she says. “The stewards were very open in the way they teach.”
The connection between Mionki’s rallying background in Kenya and her stewarding aspirations led to her growing expertise extending to WRC, where she observed the Stewards’ operations at the Central European Rally, the penultimate round of this year’s season.
For Mionki, the FIA High Performance Programme has been transformative. “It’s a fantastic initiative,” she says. “The stewards I’ve worked with are very open, encouraging, and involved us in decision-making processes. These experiences are invaluable.”
Her case also serves as the perfect example of the practical values offered by the FIA HPP programme. “You can sit in a classroom and learn a lot, but until you see it being done practically, you almost don’t get it. Moving from watching Formula 1 on TV to sitting in a steward’s room and experiencing what happens, I have a better understanding of decisions and why they are made. I’m grateful for this opportunity and I’d like to thank the FIA President and everyone else behind this programme,” she admits.
Looking ahead, Mionki aims to contribute to both Formula 1 and WRC at the stewarding level. “I want to be a Formula 1 steward and a WRC steward. I expressed my interest in those two areas because they align with my experience and passions,” she concludes.
The FIA HPP has 23 participants representing 16 different FIA Member Clubs from six regions. In addition, the FIA’s Regional Stewards Training Programme gathered 195 unique participants, with the average age being 37.5 and with 42% female participation.
