In September, the Faculty comes back to life after the calm of summer, and student teams also get a shot of new energy: they recruit new members, plan for the next season, and in some cases—like the Formula Student team—a new leader takes the helm. We talked with the now former team leader of TU Brno Racing, Jan Kozelek, and the new head of the team, Anna Piarová, about their plans for this year and the past season, whose motto could be: “Winning isn’t everything—learning is.”

You’ve completed the 2024/25 racing season with the Dragon e5 car. This year, the team didn’t achieve as many great placements as we’ve been used to, but Jan, you had already anticipated that. The car underwent a major transformation—switching to an all-wheel-drive system. How do you evaluate the past season?

Jan Kozelek: It turned out more or less as I expected. Of course, things can always go better, and compared to previous years—especially with Dragons e3 and e4—our results were worse this time, but we counted on that. It was a season quite similar to the Dragon e2, when we also made major concept changes to the car. This year, we failed to finish two out of three Endurance races (the main long-distance discipline, editor’s note), which is unfortunate, but we were even prepared for the possibility of not finishing any. Still, we did achieve some successes: 3rd place in the only completed Endurance race, improved static events…
The main goal of the entire season was to design the car differently, test it in competition, find out where our design had shortcomings, and get some mileage under our belt. So, even though the ranking results were objectively worse, the season’s goal was fulfilled. Now it’s up to Anička and the next leaders to build on that and improve in the future.

So it was more of a “learning” season. What key lessons did you take away?

Anna Piarová: We have great hardware, but it’s not fully tuned yet. That’s why we’re currently doing various measurements and tests to identify where the problem lies. The main goal for this season is definitely to increase the reliability of the powertrain so we can consistently run on all four motors. Another huge change was placing the motors inside the wheels, which meant a completely new gearbox design—and there’s still room for improvement there, too. If time allows, it would be great to develop control algorithms to make full use of the four-wheel drive’s potential, which would be another step toward the world’s top teams.

Jan Kozelek: At every competition, we tried to visit the best teams and see how they had things set up. One great thing about Formula Student is that most teams are willing and open to sharing their experience. Not that they’ll hand you their blueprints, but they’re happy to talk about what issues they faced and how they solved them. We discussed this with teams from Prague and Zurich. It’s still very clear that this is an engineering competition for students, where the main goal isn’t necessarily to be the best but to learn as much as possible and develop the team’s engineering capabilities—and everyone approaches it that way.

Jan Kozelek: Probably, like for every leader, the team management. It’s quite different from managing the technical side. People can be unpredictable, so you have to learn how to work with them. It took me quite a while to find a system that suited me personally, and I’m still not sure it was ideal for the team. That’s probably the biggest alchemy of leadership—it depends on the individual, their mindset, and character, which then shapes the outcome.

Jan Kozelek: I’m no longer officially part of the team; after four years, I stepped down. I took two weeks off and just kept sleeping (laughs). I’m now in my fourth year of mechatronics; I had to repeat the third year because of Formula, so now I’ll finally have some time to study. But I’ll stay available as a mentor—on the phone—and will gladly advise the team when needed.

Anna Piarová: Pure coincidence! At the start of my second year, I was sick and planning to watch a lecture recording when I noticed a group of guys in shirts talking about Formula on the faculty stream instead of an empty classroom. I had accidentally tuned into the team’s recruitment presentation! It caught my interest so much that I went to the in-person recruitment session, then visited the workshop. I ended up chatting with the chassis section leader, who explained what I could do there. I was hooked, joined the section, and now I’ve been in the team for four years. For my master’s, I even chose Automotive Engineering.

Anna Piarová: The connection with reality. I used to attend lectures and seminars, but I really wanted to get some hands-on experience—and that opportunity just wasn’t there. Once I joined Formula, everything I learned at school started making more sense, and I actually began to look forward to my classes.

What fascinates me most about the car is vehicle dynamics—it’s such a complex field, full of interesting concepts that can be connected. And I also love the team itself: sharing something we’ve built together, spending so many hours on it, and enjoying it as a group—that’s a great feeling.

Anna Piarová: I think Honza rather cleverly eased me into the role once he realized I might be his successor. He tried to show me the good sides of leadership, explaining how things work. When the time came to officially apply for the position, I wasn’t as scared anymore—actually, I was looking forward to it. Although I must admit, I didn’t expect so much organizational work right from the start. Still, I believe I’ll be glad for the experience by the end of the year.

Jan Kozelek: The most successful team leaders tend to be the ones who needed a little convincing—so that’s probably a good sign (laughs). Usually, the future leader becomes obvious halfway through the year. It’s often a section leader whose team runs well, who can work with people, delegate tasks, and solve problems transparently. Anička had all those qualities.

Anna Piarová: Within the team, it’s not about whether you’re a man or a woman—it’s about what kind of person you are and how much energy you’re willing to dedicate. On a personal level, sure, sometimes I miss chatting about shoes or clothes, but the team is amazing, and we’re all connected by the same passion, so gender really doesn’t matter.
That said, the number of women in the team is growing. When I joined, there were two of us; last year there were already five, including two section leaders. When women join mechanical engineering or the team, it’s usually not “just to try something out”—it’s because they’ve chosen this path and are determined to pursue it. That’s probably why they tend to stick around.

Anna Piarová: I’ve always liked motorcycles—my dad got me into them—and that led me to study mechanical engineering. But I didn’t really follow Formula or cars until now.

Anna Piarová: First, I want to say we’re really grateful for the replacement spaces. Even though they’re smaller, it’s still enough for us to function. I think we’ll manage just fine this year. What I’m curious about is the team’s dynamics and communication—since, for once, we’re not all in the same space but spread across different rooms. It’ll be a challenge in terms of organization and making sure people and section leaders stay connected. But we have a plan for that, so we’ll see.

(ivu)