In the autumn, the Faculty comes to life again after the summer calm period, and new blood is pouring into the veins of its student teams: teams are recruiting newcomers, planning the next season, and somewhere, as in the case of Formula, a new leader takes over the leadership of the team. We spoke with Jan Kozelek, the now former team leader of TU Brno Racing, and the new team boss Anna Piarová about plans for this year and also about the past season, whose motto could be: "It's not important to win, but to learn."

You completed the 2024/25 racing season with the Dragon e5 single-seater. This season, the team did not enjoy as many great placements as we were used to, but you, Jan, had already announced it in advance. The car has undergone a major transformation, namely the transition to four-wheel drive. How do you evaluate the past season?

Jan Kozelek: It turned out more or less as I had hoped. Of course, it could have been better, and compared to previous years, especially to Dragon e3 and e4, the results were worse this year; however we had expected this. It was a season very similar to Dragon e2, when we also significantly changed the overall concept of the car. This year, we didn't finish two Endurances (the key discipline in the race, evaluating the range – editor's note) out of three, which was unfortunate, but we were even prepared that we wouldn't have finished any. And there are also things that we succeeded in: 3rd place in the only Endurance finished, plus improvements in the static disciplines...

The main point of the whole past season was to design the car in a different way, test it at races, find out where we have spaces for improvement in the design, and take part in some races something with it. The goal of the season was therefore met, although we have objectively worse results in the competition rankings. Now it's up to Anna and other leaders to improve the results in the future.

So, it was more of a season with the aim of learning. What were the key takeaways?

Anna Piarová: We have great hardware on the car, but it's not fine-tuned. That's why we're now doing various measurements and testings to find out where the error is. The main goal of the season is definitely to increase the reliability of the powertrain so that we can run reliably on all four motors. Another huge change was the placement of the motors in the wheels of the vehicle, so we had a completely new design of the transmission, and there is some space for improvement as well. And if there was time, a nice bonus would be to create control algorithms to make the most of the four-wheels' potential, which would be another step towards the best teams in the world.

How do you get inspired by teams that have used a four-wheel drive for many years and are among the favorites of the competition?

Jan Kozelek: At every race, we tried to look at the best teams and see how they approach it. The nice thing about the whole Formula Student is that most of the teams are able and willing to share their experience. Well, not that they show us the drawings, but they are willing to describe the problems they were facing and how they managed to solve them... We talked about it with teams from Prague and Zurich. You can still tell that this is an engineering competition for students, the point of which is not necessarily to be the best, but to learn as much as possible and develop the team in terms of engineering. And everyone approaches it that way.

Jan, what was the most challenging thing for you as a team boss last season?

Jan Kozelek: Probably, like for any leader, it was the team management. It's quite different from the management of the technical part. People are sometimes unpredictable, so you need to learn how to work with them. It took me quite a long time to get used to a system that suits me personally and I'm still not sure if it was the ideal system for the team. That's probably the greatest alchemy. It depends on the specific person, what idea and what character they bring into the role, and then it looks like that.

And what is your role now?

Jan Kozelek: I'm officially not in the team anymore, I quit after four years. Now I had two weeks off and was sleeping all the time (laughs). I'm studying mechatronics in the fourth grade now, I repeated the third year because of the formula, so I will finally get some peace for learning. But I will stay on the phone as a mentor and will be happy to advise the team if necessary.

This year, the team is again led by a woman – only the second woman in the team’s history. What attracted you to formula?

Anna Piarová: A complete coincidence! At the beginning of my sophomore year, I got sick and was about to watch a recording of a lecture when, instead of an empty lecture hall, I saw some guys in shirts talking about Formula on the faculty stream. I accidentally turned on the team's recruitment presentation! I got so interested that I went to face-to-face recruitment, and then I visited the workshops. There, I talked to the leader of the chassis section, who introduced me very nicely to what I could be doing there. I was so hooked that I joined the section, and I am now in my fourth year in the team. And I started my master's degree in automotive engineering.

You even led the chassis section last season, and this year you will be at the head of the whole team. What do you enjoy most about Formula?

Anna Piarová: It is its connection with reality. I went to school for lectures and seminars, and I really wanted to be touching something real, but there was no option. When I started with Formula, everything at school began to make more sense, and I was looking forward to the lectures much more.

What I enjoy most about the car is the dynamics of the vehicle, it's a terribly complex thing, with many interesting concepts that can be connected. And I also enjoy the team as such: the opportunity to share with people something that we together work on, to spend so many hours on it and enjoy it all together, it's a great feeling.

Did they have to persuade you a lot to take on the position of team leader?

Anna Piarová: I think that Jan was quite clever in pulling me into the role from the time he realized that I could replace him. He tried to show me the good sides of leadership; he showed me what to do and how. When the moment came when I could officially apply for the position, I was no longer so afraid and was looking forward to it. Although I have to admit that I didn't expect so much organization work from the beginning. Even so, I believe that I will be happy for the experience at the end of the year.

Jan Kozelek: The most successful team leaders tend to be the ones who need a bit of persuasion, so that's probably right (laughs). The person who is to take the role of the leader is usually known already starting from the middle of the year. Often, this is the leader of a section that works well, who knows how to work with people, distribute work, and solve problems in a transparent way. Anna met all these prerequisites.

I can't help but ask, because you are only the second woman at the head of the team and the team consists mostly of male colleagues: How does it feel to be working among so many men?

Anna Piarová: From the team's point of view, it's not about whether you're a man or a woman, but about what kind of person you are and how much energy you want to devote to the team. On a personal level, I sometimes miss talking to someone about shoes and clothes, but the team is so great and we are all united by an interest in the thing that it doesn't matter if you are a man or a woman.

On the other hand, the number of women in the team is growing. When I joined, there were just two of us, and last year, there were already five of us and two of them were working as section leaders. When women come to engineering or to join a team, it's usually not because they want to try something, but it's something they've already chosen and go for it. That's why they usually stay here longer.

Maybe your example will attract other female students of technology. By the way, have you always enjoyed cars, or did you get a taste of it only thanks to Formula?

Anna Piarová: I enjoyed motorcycles first, my dad taught me to love them, and that also brought me to the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. But I did not watch formula or car races, until now.

This year, you will have one more challenge, and that is to operate in temporary premises, because a new BUT Student Center is being built in the place of the old workshop. What does this mean for the team?

Anna Piarová: First of all, I want to say that we are very grateful for the temporary premises. Even though they are smaller, it is still enough space for us to function. I think we will manage this year just fine. What I'm curious about is team dynamics and communication – because exceptionally, we don't all work in one space, but we are in separate rooms. It will be a challenge from the point of view of the organization for people and section leaders to communicate with each other. But we have a plan for it, so we'll see.