This is a great question and ultimately, there is no reason why a female driver
OK, so we all know what the driver is, right. I've always liked the description that F1 drivers are like... There's more... won’t occupy an F1
F1 is the pinnacle of open wheel, single seater car racing and arguably the highest level of any motorsport globally.... There's more... seat (again).
There have been five female drivers who were officially entered into F1 races, but to date, only two have started.
- Maria Teresa de Filippis (Italy), 1958 – 1959. 5 entries and 3 starts with Maserati and Behra-Porsche.
- Lella Lombardi (Italy), 1974 – 1976. 17 entries and 12 starts with March, RAM
RAM Racing was a Formula One racing team that competed during the racing seasons of 1976 to 1985. A customer... There's more... and Williams
Williams Racing is one of Formula 1's longest-running and most successful teams. Founded in 1977 by Frank Williams and Patrick... There's more.... - Davina Galica (United Kingdom) 1976 & 1978. 3 entries but missed out at qualification with Surtees & Hesketh
Hesketh Racing was a Formula One constructor from the United Kingdom, which competed from 1973 to 1978. The team competed... There's more.... - Desire Wilson (South Africa) 1980. 1 entry but missed out at qualification with Williams.
- Giovanna Amati (Italy) 1992. 3 entries but missed out at qualification with Brabham
Brabham is the common name for Motor Racing Developments Ltd., a British racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team.... There's more....
Susie Wolff
Susie is a Scottish born, former professional British racing driver and the most recent female to drive in an official... There's more... (Scotland) was the last to take a car to the track for an official session. She was a reserve driverWith a team title as well as a driver title at stake, teams need to start the car even if... There's more... for Williams in 2014 and drove Free PracticeFree Practice consists of three sessions (FP1, FP2 & FP3) held prior to qualifying. It is referred to as 'free... There's more... 1 at the 2014 British and German Grand Prix
A Grand Prix is a motorsport series sanctioned by the FIA and held in various countries for a world title.... There's more....
Susie was interviewed recently by Tom Clarkson
Tom Clarkson is an F1 reporter having joined the BBC team in 2013 (IMBd). He reported on F1 for BBC... There's more... for his F1 Beyond the Grid
A podcast for every F1 fan, whether you are an F1Newbie or dedicated follower... Formula 1's fastest stars slow down... There's more... podcast.
When asked “Why aren’t there any female drivers in Formula 1Formula 1 is the pinnacle of open-wheel, single-seater car racing and arguably the highest level of any motorsport globally. Also... There's more... at the minute because there hasn’t been anyone since you in 2014” Susie responded saying “It’s about the talent pool, it’s a numbers
2019 Numbers shown above Numbers are used to identify the team, car and driver. Since 2014, drivers have been able... There's more... game. If you’ve only got a handful of little girls racing at top-level European carting, it’s very unlikely that one of them is going to make it to the very pinnacle of the sport. But if you’ve got more girls racing the talent pool becomes naturally becomes bigger and the more chance you have of a girl making it to the very top”.
She went on to say “I think the second part is also about inspiration, you’ve got to see it to believe it and unfortunately right now we don’t have a female driver in Formula 1 that can inspire the next generation. But I do believe on the positive side that there are a lot of very talented women in the sport. Maybe off track more than on track right now and they are proving to be inspirations and I’ve certainly seen it in my time in the sport that slowly but surely we are making progress”.
As Susie notes, there are many roles for women in motorsport and she promotes this through her organisation Dare to be Different.
