- In Sports
- 10/04/2026 11:00
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The last time that a female attempted to qualify for a Formula 1 race was in 1992 when Giovanna Amati failed to do so in Brazil. As of 2026, five female drivers have entered a Grand Prix.
The pioneer for women in Formula 1 was Italian driver Maria Teresa de Filippis, who raced in 1958 and 1959. She competed during a time period when motorsport was considered a hobby for wealthy middle-aged men.
De Filippis faced prejudice from the race director of the 1958 French Grand Prix. He told the female driver that “the only helmet a woman should wear is the one at the hairdresser's.”
Other women have competed in a Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend, including Lella Lombardi, Desiré Wilson, Giovanna Amati, and Olympic skier Divina Galica.
Lombardi is the only one who managed to score world championship points when she finished sixth at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix. She and De Filippis are the only female drivers to qualify for a Formula 1 race.
Galica’s racing path began when she accepted an invitation to a celebrity auto race. She eventually took up motorsport as a second career.
Before 1996, drivers qualified for a Grand Prix by setting times during one session each on Friday and Saturday. Their fastest lap determined whether they would participate in the race and where they would line up on the starting grid.
In recent decades, women have driven Formula 1 cars in practice sessions during race weekends and in private tests. Susie Wolff is the most famous recent example of a female driver who was close to landing a seat in F1.
After Wolff did not manage to race in Formula 1, she focused on helping other women succeed in motorsport. This led her to the role of Managing Director of the F1 Academy series.
F1 Academy is a series for female racers only and is at the Formula 4 level of single-seater racing. It is a transitional step between karting and Formula 3 racing for young drivers.
F1 Academy was established in 2023 by the Formula One Group with the aim of preparing young drivers to progress to higher levels of competition.
This series is an opportunity for women to develop and climb up the ladder to Formula 1, but it does not guarantee them success. As it is at the level of Formula 4, there are many steps left for female drivers to complete including Formula 3 and Formula 2 before eventually reaching the pinnacle of motorsport.
Another difficulty for women is the lack of funding that they receive and the small talent pool that teams in motorsport can choose from. This can change through increased participation of women in racing and consistent success in karting and lower Formula series.
Outside of the driver role, women have received opportunities to work in Formula 1 in other positions. For example, Monisha Kaltenborn became the first female Team Principal when she took over the Sauber F1 team in 2013.
Other examples include Claire Williams, Deputy Team Principal of her father’s team Williams F1, Hannah Schmitz, current Head of Race Strategy at Red Bull Racing, and Laura Müller, the first-ever female race engineer in Formula 1 history.
Women have contributed to the development of F1 in other roles, such as press officers, engineers, and mechanics. According to official data from Formula 1, females employed in the sport accounted for 38% in 2024.
In the past decade, an increasing participation of females has been marked in motorsport. This is due to initiatives such as the Diversity and Inclusion Chapter, a part of which is the F1 Academy series.
These initiatives do not guarantee women drivers' participation in Formula 1. This depends on factors such as sponsorship and support from F1 teams, as well as women’s readiness to adhere to the sport’s physical demands.
Edited by Spasiela Gizdova and Kaloyan Ivanov
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