These five women made it to Formula 1

Posted on 20-07-2014 at 14:26 by JordyS – 20 Comments”

The world Championship of Formula 1 is now more than sixty years, but rarely appeared there is a female driver at the start. These five got it in the end though.

First female F1 driver Maria Teresa de Filippis
Maria Teresa de Filippis debuted in the Formula 1 in a time when it was normal to find that women in the kitchen belonged. Her brothers made her ridiculous to her ambitions in racing and have found her to slow. They could the two, but in a way the silence: debut in Formula 1.

That chance got them in 1958 during the Monaco Grand Prix, though, the Italian not to qualify with her Maserati 250 F. For comparison: also one Bernie Ecclestone was too slow to join up. They appeared at the start of the Grand Prix of Belgium, which she finished tenth and last. They qualified for the races in Italy and Portugal, but took the stripe.

Remarkably enough, The Filippis in France on the side held by the tournament committee. It was indicative of the autosportwereld of that time: a machowereld, dominated by men. The organization found that women “only have a helmet on should if they are at the hairdresser”, and refused her a ticket.

First woman in F1 and 24 hours of Le Mans: Lella Lombardi
Lella Lombari kicked it almost twenty years after The Filippis further than her compatriot. They debuted in 1974 with a Brabham BT42 and scored in her second season as the only woman points. She finished at sixth in Spain, but since that race early and was flagged, there will only be a half point behind her name.

She achieved more successes in endurance races. She appeared four times at the start of the 24 hours of Le Mans, with as best result a ninth place in a Porsche Carrera. This made her the first woman to be both a start in a Grand Prix as the 24 hours of Le Mans behind her name. In addition, she won the 6-uursraces of Pergusa and Vallelunga in 1979.

Three women who it just didn’t make it
After Lombardi also tried Divina Galica, Desiré Wilson and Giovanna Amati to qualify for a Formula 1 race. They did so, however, in the seventies, eighties and early nineties. You can today imagine, but at that time there was a surplus of teams, so only the fastest riders from the qualification is a ticket for the game on Sunday.

The trio ran aground again, in the sight of the port, with the qualifications as a terminus. Galica did not make it in Grand Prix racing, but scored a podium in the British Aurora F1 series. The same was true for Wilson, who is in the British class a race and managed to win. She is today the only woman to race F1 cars on her take wrote. As a token of appreciation named after the circuit of Brands Hatch even a gallery to the South African.

Amati was in 1992, the last in an attempt ventured during a GP-weekend. She stepped in at Brabham, that in that time nothing more was reminiscent of the successful team that it once was. They managed not to qualify in South Africa, Mexico and Brazil, to then be replaced by Damon Hill. Also His polite outside the Formula 1 more success, for example, in 1993, when she was in the Porsche Supercup standings for women won.

The future: who is knocking on the door
In fifty years time, he managed just five women to come in action during a Grand Prix weekend. Only two reason actually races, but that is now thirty years ago. How big is the chance that a female driver in the near future? Quite large, given the recent performance of Simona de Silvestro and Susie Wolff.

The first signed a testcontract with Sauber, with the eye on a racezitje in 2015. Her name will not be with everyone to ring a bell, but the Swiss has, in fact, have a generous serving of talent. She scored a podium in the IndyCar Series and did a splash in the Atlantic Championship, where they between her male competitors, became third in the final standings.

Also, Wolff is doing the last time good business, after a number of seasons in the DTM. They came last Friday, with Williams still in action during the free practice for the Grand Prix of Germany and came to the fifteenth time, just two tenths of a second from Felipe Massa. Indeed, the man who in 2008 almost became world champion. The Uk is certainly someone to keep an eye out.