Photo: Martin Lee / Karting Nord, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr (Credit links at the end of the content)
We continue our journey through the forgotten F1 drivers, exploring their stories in different ways, from unusual statistics and short careers to remarkable races. Next, we turn our attention to female F1 drivers and the pioneers who challenged the barriers of their era.
F1 has traditionally been one of the most difficult and exclusive forms of motorsport to enter, for decades, F1 was dominated by men, both in the cockpit and throughout the paddock, yet women were never completely absent from the story, a small group of remarkable determined drivers managed to reach the highest level of single seater racing, with some actually starting Grand Prix and others coming agonizingly close!
Female F1 drivers: Officially raced
Their stories are different, some arrived with a racing backgrounds, others came from entirely different sporting disciplines, while a few had to fight against machinery that made their chances of success almost impossible, what connects them is that they were willing to enter an environment where simply being a female could make the challenge considerably harder!
Maria Teresa de Filippis: The First Female to Start a World Championship Grand Prix
The story begins with Maria Teresa de Filippis, an Italian driver from Naples who entered motorsport partly because she wanted to prove her brothers wrong, when she began racing at the age of 22, her brothers reportedly doubted that she had the speed required to compete seriously.
Instead of discouraging her, the challenge pushed her futher, she quickly discovered that she had genuine racing talent and began competing successfully in sports cars and hill climbs.
Her greatest opportunity came in 1958 when she entered the F1 World Championship.
De Filippis drove a Maserati 250F, one of the legendary cars of the era, that car had already been associated with Juan Manuel Fangio, who had used the model during his championship-winning career. De Filippis entered her F1 Grand Prix at Monaco GP in 1958, it was hardly an easy place for a newcomer to prove herself, the narrow streets, unforgiving barriers, made the event one of the toughest challenges on the calendar, but she didn’t qualify for the race as she was 11 seconds slower than the pole sitter Tony Brooks.
De Filippis’ first official race start came at the Belgian Grand Prix, where she finished tenth, which remained her best result from her Formula 1 attempts. She also competed at the Portuguese and Italian Grands Prix that same year, but retired from both races. She returned in 1959 for the Monaco Grand Prix, driving for Behra-Porsche, but once again failed to qualify. That proved to be her final Formula 1 attempt, as she stepped away from racing altogether later that year.
Lella Lombardi: The Female Driver Who Scored Formula 1 Points
Most fans have probably never heard of de Filippis, but many will know the name Lella Lombardi, because she achieved something that remains unique in F1 history.
Lella Lombardi became the first and she remains the only female driver to score points in F1.
Her route to F1 was built through years of competition rather than a sudden arrival, she progressed through the lower categories and eventually reached F1 in the 1970s. Driving style was often described as controlled, while her quiet personality contrasted with the intensity of the competition around her.
Lella Lombardi made her F1 debut in 1974 before establishing herself more firmly with March Engineering for the 1975 season. Her defining moment came at the 1975 Spanish GP at the Montjuic circuit in Barcelona, the race was stopped due to safety, meaning only half championship points were awarded to the drivers who finished in the points, Lombardi finished 6th.
Under normal circumstances, sixth place would have awarded one championship points, because the race didn’t reach the required distance, however, she received half a point, that 0.5 remains one of the most unusual stats in F1 history, but more importantly, she became the only female F1 driver to score points in F1.
However, Lella Lombardi’s career included 12 Grand Prix starts, and she continued competing in international motorsport after her F1 years (1974-1976), but her achievement remains untouched decades later, making Lombardi statistically the most successful female driver in history of F1.
Women Who Entered F1 But Never Started a Grand Prix
Only two women have officially started a F1 race, the two drivers we mentioned above. However, there are also women F1 drivers who entered a Grand Prix but never qualified for the race, as well as others who tested F1 cars but never made it to the starting grid. Below, we will take a look at their names and stories.
Divina Galica: From Olympic Skier to F1 Entrant
Divina Galica arrived in motorsport with a background that was almost completely different from that of most F1 drivers, before racing cars, she was an elite downhill skier, her transition from skiing to motorsport in the 1970s was extraordinary, rather than treating racing as a casual second career, she climbed through the categories and eventually reached F1.
The occasion was historically unusual because Lella Lombardi was also entered for the same Grand prix, it remains one of the rare instances in which two female drivers entered for the same F1 event, but both didn’t qualify, Galica was around 7 seconds slower than the pole sitter, while Lombardi around 8 seconds.
Galica made further attempts in F1 entries between 1976 and 1978 but never managed to secure a starting position.
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Desiré Wilson: The Female driver Who Won Aurora F1 series race
Desiré Wilson occiupies one of the most fascinating places in the history of F1 because her career includes an achievement that has been never repeated by another female driver.
She was from South Africa, and was one of the most versatile female races of her era, she achieved a remarkable victory at Brands Hatch while driving a Theodore Racing Wolf WR4 in the British Aurora F1 Championship in 1980.
The Aurora series used F1 cars and attracted drivers and teams competing outside the official F1. Her victory wasn’t in Formula 1 but that win in Aurora series gave her a unique place in history.
Wilson also came close to competing in the official World Championship, later in 1980, she entered the British Grand Prix with a privateer Williams FW07, but she was unable to qualify, she was 5 seconds slower than the pole sitter Didier Pironi.
Her story is therefore much bigger than a failed F1 qualifying attempt, Wilson proved herself across several of the world’s most demanding racing disciplines!
Giovanna Amati: The Last Female Driver to Enter an F1 Grand Prix
More than a decade later, Giovanna Amati became the last female driver to enter an official F1 Grand Prix weekend, the Italian driver had worked her way through Formula 3 and Formula 3000 before securing a seat with Brabham for the beginning of the 1992 season.
Her arrival generated enormous attention at the time, but the timing was difficult, the team was struggling financially, and the BT60B was far from competitive, the car suffered from both a lack of performance and reliability problems, leaving Amati with an extremely difficult task.
She attempted to qualify for the opening races of the 1992 season in South Africa, Mexico and Brazil but failed to make the starting field on each occasion.
Brabham replaced her with Damon Hill, who would eventually become a F1 World Champion in 1996.
Amati’s F1 career was short, but her place in history is secure, she remains the last female to enter F1!
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Women Who Tested or Participated in F1 Practice
Although no female has yet started a Formula 1 Grand Prix since Lombardi, several female drivers have returned to the cockpit of mdoern F1 cars through official testing and practice sessions.
Susie Wolff became the first female driver in 22 years to participate in an official F1 weekend when she drove for Williams during free practice sessions in 2014, her appearance was an important moment because it brought a female driver back into an F1 Grand Prix weekend in the modern era.
Colombia’s Tatiana Calderón continued the progression, she was the first Latin-American female driver to test an F1 car, she worked with Sauber and drove the team’s F1 car during testing in 2018 and 2019.
More recently, Britain’s Jessica Hawking drove an Aston Martin F1 car during a test at the Hungaroring in 2023.
FEATURED IMAGE CREDITS: Martin Lee / Karting Nord, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr
One of our series: Forgotten F1 Drivers of 2007 to 2013 | Part 7
