Are Female Drivers Allowed to Compete in F1?

Formula 1 is and has been a male-dominated sport. And this is not only the case with F1 but motorsport as a whole. Only 1.5% of all licensed motor sports drivers worldwide are female and for a sport like F1, are women even allowed to drive?

The answer is yes!

Women are allowed to compete in F1. A few extremely talented women have already sat behind the wheel of an F1 car. So here is a list of female drivers who did the almost impossible by making their way into the pinnacle of motorsport.

Maria Teresa de Filippis

Maria Teresa de Filippis is the first woman to drive an F1 car. An Italian international, Filippis raced from 1958 to 1959. Throughout her brief career, Teresa has raced for Behra-Porsche, and Maserati and raced on three occasions.

Maria Teresa made her debut in the race in the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix and retired the next year at the same venue. Even though the Italian driver could not fetch any points, she is always remembered as the pioneer in the sport for women.

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Lella Lombardi

We have another Italian driver is on the list, and this time it’s Lella Lombardi. Lombardi raced in F1 between 1974 and 1976 and raced on 12 different occasions. Lella Lombardi made his debut in the 1974 British Grand Prix and raced for constructors like March, RAM, and Williams.

Lombardi is the only female driver in the history of the sport to have a top-six finish which she achieved at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix. The Italian driver retired after the 1976 Austrian Grand Prix after having scored 0.5 points.

Divina Galica

Divina Mary Galica is another female driver on the list who had the talent to take up the wheel of an F1 car. Even though Mary had only three race entries in F1, she excelled in British Formula One Championship and captained the British Olympic Ski team.

During her short tenure, Galica raced for Surtees and Hesketh after debuting in the year 1976. The 1978 Brazilian Grand Prix was the last F1 race for the British international.

Desiré Wilson

Next up we have Desire Wilson. A South African by birth, Wilson had only one entry in F1 as a driver. The driver debuted in the 1980 British Grand Prix and that was her last. She raced for Williams for that one race and then she moved to other motorsports for a new venture.

Giovanna Amati

The last entry on the list is Giovanna Amati, and she hails from the hub of motorsport in Europe, Italy. Amati debuted for Brabham in the year 1992 and became the fifth woman F1 driver.

Giovanna Amati entered three races when she debuted in the 1992 South African Grand Prix and retired after the Brazilian Grand Prix in the same year.

Special Mentions

A few names that just can’t be kept aside when talking about women involved in F1 are Susie Wolff, Katherine Legge, Sarah Fisher, etc. Among them, Susie Wolff, wife of much renowned Mercedes AMG F1 team principal Toto Wolff is arguably the flag bearer of women in Formula 1.

Susie Wolff joined Williams as a development and test driver, whereas Katherine Legge joined Minardi for the same. Sarah Fisher left her mark at the IndyCar Series with 81 starts and 1 pole position. And Maria de Villota became a test driver for Marussia in 2012.

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