There are plenty of well-known names when it comes to Formula One racing. There is Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg and more. One thing that all these world champions have in common, is that they are all men.
So why are there no female drivers in Formula One?
Many might be shocked to find out that there are no rules or clauses in place that actually prevent female drivers from entering and racing in Formula One competitions.
In fact, since 1946 there have been a total of five women who have competed as professional drivers in Formula One.
Maria Teresa de Filippis:
Maria Teresa de Filippis was an Italian racing driver and the first woman to race in Formula One.
Maria participated in a total of five World Championship Grands Prix, but scored no championship points.
She started racing cars at age twenty-one, and made her competitive debut in 1948, when she was twenty-two.
The racing driver, who also was an accomplished horse rider, skier and tennis player, decided enough was enough when it came to racing, following the death of her close friend, Jean Behra in 1959.
Lella Lombardi:
Maria Grazia “Lella” Lombardi was also an Italian racing driver, who went on to become the first and so far, the only woman to score points in the World Championship.
Lella was born into a family who didn’t even own a car, with it being legend that the reason she got into racing was because after being injured in a handball game, she was driven at great speed to the hospital.
She continued racing into the late 1980s, but was diagnosed with cancer and died in early 1992, at the age of only 48.
Divina Galica:
Divina Galica is a British sportswoman, who back in 1976 tried to qualify for the British Grand Prix.
This was the only Formula One Grand Prix which saw multiple female racers (including Lombardi) being entered, but both failed to qualify.
Divina isn’t just known for her racing. She was a well-known Olympic Skier way before she started racing cars.
Divina at one time even held the British downhill speed record, and finished twice on the podium in World Cup events.
In terms of driving, it all started when she was invited to a celebrity race, where she surprised those watching with her natural talent.
This led to her moving to karts, to Formula Two, to Formula One, and then to sports cars and trucks.
Divina ended up becoming an instructor with Skip Barber Racing Schools, eventually becoming Senior Vice President.
Desiré Wilson:
Desiré Wilson is a former racing driver, from South Africa, who in 1980 tried to qualify for the British Grand Prix, but wasn’t successful.
In the same year, Desiré became the only woman to win a Formula One race of any kind.
This was when she won the British Aurora F1 Championship at Brands Hatch.
As a result of her win, she now has a grandstand at Brands Hatch named after her.
Giovanna Amati:
Giovanna Amati is a former Italian racing driver, who is the last woman so far that has attempted to qualify for a Formula One Grand Prix.
She tried to qualify for three races, but wasn’t successful.
Giovanna went on to be replaced by Damon Hill.
Beth Smith, known as BelF1 on YouTube, and co-founder and content creator for F-Series, spoke to me about the lack of women in the sport.
“I think the lack of women is as a result of multiple reasons and there is no one step solution for it. We cannot simply just ‘get more women in the sport’.
“F1 is an extremely generational sport, we see the large majority of fans become involved largely through influence of their fathers/father figures.”
Beth explained how within society, she feels that young girls naturally have a stronger connection with their primary caregivers, which in the majority of cases is their mothers.
This means that they are more likely to take on their mother’s interests than their fathers.
“This is of course, in no way to say that mothers/female role models aren’t interested in Formula 1 at all, it’s just much fewer.”
Beth explained that the sport has accessibility issues: “with motorsport being too expensive for the average child to take part in and the sport being behind a paywall, a young girl cannot passively watch the sport.
“If they have no role model in their life which they choose to engage with their interests, nor can they even stumble upon the sport, combined with the lack of female representation within formula 1 from both an athlete point of view and within presenters, how on earth can we expect young girls to be influenced to one take interest in the sport and two pursue a career within it?
“There are plenty of opportunities available for females to be involved within F1, but the barriers which lie are clear.”
Beth spoke about Netflix series, ‘Drive To Survive’ and said it “is so important in providing access to the sport via a different pathway and making it appealing to a younger, female audience.”
She ended by saying that she hopes there will be a change:
“In combination with the FIA girls on track initiatives, in particular the rising stars programme, we can hopefully see change at the grass roots level which in turn over the next 10 years, produce change where we see the lack of representation most, within the athletes and the presenters.”
Chelsea Bailey
Featured image courtesy of Gustavo Campos on Unsplash. Image licence found here. No changes were made to this image.
It was an honour to assist you with this article Chelsea!
Had a random thought lying on my bed – “Why aren’t there any female drivers in f1? Had there been any previously?”. Had to find out and stumbled across this article. A lovely read with an interesting POV. I was expecting money, talent etc but was pleasantly surprised with the early childhood impact of society. Kudos!
Had a random thought lying on my bed – “Why aren’t there any female drivers in f1? Had there been any previously?”. Had to find out and stumbled across this article. A lovely read with an interesting POV. I was expecting money, talent etc but was pleasantly surprised with the early childhood impact of society. Kudos!