Formula 1 is still a couple of years away from seeing a woman secure a full-time grid slot, according to Aston Martin ambassador Jessica Hawkins.
However, the driver has laid out the exact path the next generation must follow to make history in motorsport.
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Hawkins tested Aston Martin’s 2021 chassis over 26 laps in Budapest back in September 2023.
She became the first female driver to test a Formula 1 car in five years, with reigning F1 Academy champion Doriane Pin subsequently becoming the most recent woman to pilot modern machinery.
The French driver completed 76 laps at Silverstone in a 2021-spec car, becoming the first woman to drive for the Mercedes team.
Historically, only two women have successfully qualified and started a Formula 1 Grand Prix out of the five who have entered the sport.
Maria Teresa de Filippis was the first woman to compete at the pinnacle of motorsport, entering three races in 1958 and achieving a career-best finish of tenth at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Lella Lombardi stands as the most successful female in Formula 1 history, entering 17 Grands Prix and making 12 starts.
Her best result was sixth in the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix.
There’s been no female representation within the competitive racing format since; however, Susie Wolff launched an all-female racing series for 2023 which required all ten Formula 1 teams to back drivers and provide them with financial and media support.
And the future is looking bright following the British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone, where the F1 Academy made its highly anticipated debut at the iconic track on the support bill.
Red Bull Racing driver Alisha Palmoski’s dreams came true, winning in front of a home crowd.
But while the visibility of women in the sport has never been higher, how long will it be until we see a female driver lining up on the Formula 1 grid?
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Representation matters
Speaking on the impact of having the F1 Academy share the stage at Silverstone, Hawkins insisted providing tangible role models for the next generation is vital.
She said: “It’s an opportunity that’s only recently come around the last few years. So to have them at Silverstone is amazing.
“The junior racing is often just as good as the Formula 1 racing, so there’ll be lots of people that come to attend those support races as well as just Formula 1.
“For one of those racing series to be F1 Academy is amazing, and the younger generation get to have something to look up to which is important, and they haven’t had that recently.
“So it’s really important and young girls will be able to see it and look up to it.”
The development path for talent isn’t only tough on females but also those who come from a disadvantaged background.
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Elite single-seater racing requires ticking an unforgiving number of boxes, and Hawkins added: “I think putting an actual time frame on a female making it is very difficult.
“I do think we’re a couple of years away from a female making it into a full-time Formula 1 seat, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t think it is going to happen one day.”
Catching them at grassroots
While the F1 Academy is opening doors with its current format, Hawkins believes the next logical step for the series involves lowering the age for single-seaters to capture talent at the peak of their developmental years.
She stated: “I think the growth in junior karting and single-seaters and the amount of more women there are now in those junior categories, there’s a lot more than what there was when I first started.
“But of course, it always takes time for them to filter through and the ratio is still not where it needs to be but we’re a lot further forward than what we were.
“I do think within the next few years, we’re going to start seeing more Formula 2 and Formula 3 female drivers.
“But of course, it’s not only down to talent, they have to be able to tick a load of boxes. They have to have enough funding behind them.
“Of course, to be very talented you need to be strong enough and fit enough. So as soon as we’ve got all of those pieces together I do think that we’ll start to see more filter through and I do think that that’s a big positive that F1 Academy’s done.
“It’s got more at a grassroots level, which is what we really need. But it’s just going to take a while for them to get old enough and for that to start showing.”
She added: “The female that we see in Formula 1 is probably going to be doing Formula 4 when they’re 15-16 years old.
“Because if you’re racing in Formula 4 at 25, you would normally put them in at the earlier stages of that, so I think we’re going to have to try and get the younger ones through it as much as possible.”
With Marta Garcia, Abbi Pulling and Doriane Pin being the first three champions of the series, they are writing their names in the history books – but there is a long journey ahead before women become regular household names on the standard Formula 1 grid.
