List of female Formula One drivers

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This is a list of female motor racing drivers who have taken part in the Formula One World Championship since the inception of the World Championship for Drivers in 1950.

Five women racing drivers have entered at least one Grand Prix, although only two of them ever qualified and started a race. The woman who competed in the most Grands Prix is Lella Lombardi, with 17 entries and 12 starts.

Desiré Wilson became the only woman to win a Formula One race of any kind when she won at Brands Hatch in the British Aurora F1 championship on 7 April 1980. As a result of this achievement, she has a grandstand at Brands Hatch named after her.[1]

History[edit]

Lella Lombardi remains the only woman to score points in Formula One

The involvement of women in Formula One was pioneered by Italian Maria Teresa de Filippis who entered five races in the 1958 and 1959 seasons[2] and started three[2] scoring a best result of tenth position in the 1958 Belgian Grand Prix.[3][4] In the following race in France, the race director denied her involvement, saying that "the only helmet that a woman should use is the hairdresser".[5][6] Maria ended her career at the Monaco Grand Prix the following year.

After fifteen years without any women in the category, another Italian, Lella Lombardi, competed in three seasons, from 1974 to 1976. Lombardi entered seventeen races and started twelve, having her best result in the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix where she finished sixth. With the race being stopped before three quarters of the scheduled race distance was completed, only half points were awarded. Lombardi became the first and so far only woman to score points in the World Championship.[7][8][9][10]

In 1976 the Briton Divina Galica tried to qualify for the British Grand Prix. This was the only Formula One Grand Prix in which multiple female racers (Lombardi and Galica) were entered, but both failed to qualify.[8][10][11][12]

In 1980, the South African Desiré Wilson tried to qualify for the British Grand Prix, not succeeding. In the same year she became the only woman to win a Formula One race of any kind when she won at Brands Hatch in the British Aurora F1 championship on 7 April 1980. As a result of this achievement, Wilson has a grandstand at Brands Hatch named after her.[1][13]

The last woman to drive in a Formula One Grand Prix event was former F3000 driver Italian Giovanna Amati who was signed to Brabham at the beginning of the 1992 season. She failed to qualify for three races in which she was entered. She was replaced by Damon Hill, who also failed to qualify the same car in 6 out of the 8 following races he entered. Brabham lead driver that season was Eric Van De Poele who only managed to qualify once and after 11 races the team folded.[14][15][16]

Drivers[edit]

Official drivers[edit]

Drivers listed in this table are those who have entered a Grand Prix. Actual starts are stated in brackets.

# Name Seasons Teams Entries
(starts) 		Points
1 FilippisItaly Maria Teresa de Filippis 1958–1959 Maserati, Behra-Porsche 05 (3) 40
2 LombardiItaly Lella Lombardi 1974–1976 March, RAM, Williams 17 (12) 50.5
3 GalicaUnited Kingdom Divina Galica 1976, 1978 Surtees, Hesketh 03 (0) 2–
4 WilsonSouth Africa Desiré Wilson 1980 Williams 01 (0) 3–
5 AmatiItaly Giovanna Amati 1992 Brabham 03 (0) 1–

Test drivers and development drivers[edit]

Test driver Susie Wolff

Some female drivers have participated in non-competition testing and evaluation sessions with Formula One teams. IndyCar driver Sarah Fisher performed a demonstration run with McLaren after first practice for the 2002 United States Grand Prix.[17] Katherine Legge tested with Minardi at the Vallelunga Circuit in 2005.[18]

Other female drivers have been contracted to Formula One teams in testing and development capacities. In 2012, Williams signed Susie Wolff as a development and test driver. Two years later, Wolff became the first woman to take part in a Formula One race weekend in 22 years, when she participated in the first practice session at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone;[19] the previous time being in 1992, when Giovanna Amati who was the official Brabham team driver alongside Eric van der Poele, made three unsuccessful Grand Prix qualification attempts. Van der Poele and later Damon Hill, Amatis replacement only managed to qualify the uncompetitive Brabham 3 times out of 18 attempts and the team folded after 11 races.[20][21] María de Villota, the daughter of Spanish Formula One driver Emilio de Villota, was hired as a test driver for Marussia[22] until her crash in 2012 at the Duxford Aerodrome during a straightline test. De Villota died from her injuries the following year.[23] In 2014, Sauber signed IndyCar Series driver Simona de Silvestro as an "affiliated driver", with the goal of having her compete in 2015.[24] In 2015 Lotus F1 signed Carmen Jordá to a deal including a run in a car.[25]

Sauber signed Colombian driver Tatiana Calderón as development driver for 2017.[26] Calderón was promoted from her development driver role to test driver for the 2018 season, and tested an F1 car for the first time with Sauber in Mexico in October 2018.[27][28]

In 2019, Williams Driver Academy signed leading W Series contender Jamie Chadwick as a development driver for the Williams F1 team.[29] Chadwick later won the 2019 W Series championship, the 2021 W Series championship and the 2022 W Series championship, and continues as a Williams development driver in 2022.[30]

In September 2023, Aston Martin driver ambassador Jessica Hawkins tested a 2021-spec F1 car at the Hungaroring.[31]

Milestones[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Diepraam, Mattijs (October 1998). "F1's only female winner". FORIX 8W. Autosport.com. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  2. ^ a b "F1: Primeira mulher a pilotar um Formula 1 é "estrela" em Portimão". Autoportal. 12 October 2010. Archived from the original on 4 May 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  3. ^ "Escocesa é a primeira mulher a participar de treino oficial da F1 em 22 anos". UOL. 4 July 2014. Archived from the original on 27 January 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  4. ^ "Maria Teresa de Filippis races in Portuguese Grand Prix - Aug 24, 1958". HISTORY.com. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  5. ^ "TOP CINQ: Cinco Penélopes Charmosas". Bandeira Verde. 19 August 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  6. ^ "Maria Teresa De Filippis - Sport - The Observer". The Observer. 5 March 2006. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  7. ^ "Espanhola é esperança de presença feminina na F1 após 20 anos - F1 - iG". IG. 23 August 2011. Archived from the original on 27 January 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  8. ^ a b "Que fim levou? - Lella Lombardi". UOL. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  9. ^ "Lombardi feat was mere footnote to tragic 1975 race". Reuters. 5 May 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  10. ^ a b "Coluna La Rascasse: As mulheres e a Fórmula 1". F1Mania. 11 May 2012. Archived from the original on 2 May 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  11. ^ "Women in Formula One". formula1-dictionary.net. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  12. ^ "Women in F1: still a distant dream? - IOL Motoring F1 Grand Prix". IOL. 7 May 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  13. ^ "Desire Wilson: The story of F1's only race-winning woman - F1 Fanatic". F1 Fanatic. 26 February 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  14. ^ "Lika In-Loko: Mulheres na F1 - um resgate feminino". F1Mania. 19 August 2009. Archived from the original on 2 May 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  15. ^ "Lembra se de...Giovanna Amati?". Autosport.pt. 8 September 2008. Retrieved 27 July 2015.[permanent dead link]
  16. ^ "Giovanna Amati - F1 Driver Profile - ESPN.co.uk". ESPN.co.uk. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  17. ^ "Sarah Fisher to drive McLaren". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. 19 September 2002. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  18. ^ "Katherine Legge makes Minardi debut". F1.com. 23 November 2005. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  19. ^ "British Grand Prix 2014: Susie Wolff the first woman to take part in a Formula One race weekend in 22 years". Independent. 4 July 2014.
  20. ^ Elizalde, Pablo (11 April 2012). "Susie Wolff joins Williams as development driver". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  21. ^ Noble, Jonathan (15 July 2013). "Wolff, Juncadella join Williams for young driver test at Silverstone". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  22. ^ "Maria de Villota joins Marussia F1 team as test driver for the 2012 season". Autosport. 7 March 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  23. ^ "Former Formula One test driver Maria de Villota dies". USA Today. Associated Press. 11 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  24. ^ Press Association (14 February 2014). "Sauber hire IndyCar driver Simona de Silvestro to prepare her for F1". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  25. ^ Autosport (26 February 2014). "F1: Lotus signs Jorda to development role". Racer. Archived from the original on 27 January 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  26. ^ Benson, Andrew (February 28, 2017). "Tatiana Calderon: Sauber sign Colombian as development driver for 2017". BBC Sport. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  27. ^ Klein, Jamie (6 March 2018). "Tatiana Calderon gets expanded Sauber Formula 1 team role". Autosport.com. Autosport Media UK. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  28. ^ Smith, Luke (31 October 2018). "Tatiana Calderon hails 'incredible experience' after maiden F1 test". Crash.net. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  29. ^ "Jamie Chadwick joins Williams Racing Driver Academy". www.williamsf1.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  30. ^ "Rokit Williams Racing: Jamie Chadwick". www.williamsf1.com. Archived from the original on 27 January 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  31. ^ "Jessica Hawkins completes debut F1 test with AMF1 Team". www.astonmartinf1.com. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  32. ^ "Maria Teresa De Filippis | Sport | The Observer". www.theguardian.com. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  33. ^ "GPGuide – Driver Profile: Maria Teresa de Filippis". Archived from the original on 2016-01-26. Retrieved 2013-08-04.
  34. ^ Bouzanquet, Jean François (July 27, 2009). Fast Ladies: Female Racing Drivers 1888 to 1970. Veloce Publishing Ltd. ISBN 9781845842253. Retrieved 27 January 2020 – via Google Books.
  35. ^ "1976 British Grand Prix - Race Result". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
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