Formula One is a male dominated sport. But throughout the years we have seen women behind the wheels of these awesome machines, and maybe in the future we will again.
Since the inception of Formula One racing in 1950 we have only seen five female drivers in the sport - the most recent being Giovanna Amati who drove for Brabham in 1992.
Maria Teresa de Filippis
But let's start at the beginning. In 1958 Maria Teresa de Filippis from Italy tried but did not qualify for the Monaco Grand Prix. She did however start the Belgian, Portuguese and Italian Grand Prix’s, finishing in her best place of 10th during the Belgian race. Her highest qualifying position being 15th for the Portuguese race, in which she retired. In 1959 she once again tried but failed to qualify for the Monaco event.
Lella Lombardi
The most successful female driver in Formula One is Italian driver Lella Lombardi.
Lella finished sixth in Spain in 1975, scoring 0.5 points, as the race was stopped early following a serious crash. She is still the only woman to score any points.
Lella is also the female driver with the most entries in Formula One, entering 17 races during the 1974 to 1976 season. Her best finish being the 6th place she achieved in Spain. Her best qualifying position was 17th in Belgium in 1975.
Divina Galica
Divina Galica from Great Britain also raced from 1976 to 1978 and entered 3 races. She did not however qualify for any of these races. The closest she came was being 2.59 seconds slower than the last placed qualifier.
The only Formula One Grand Prix in which multiple female racers (Lella Lombardi and Divina Galica) were entered was the 1976 Formula One British Grand Prix
Desire Wilson
In 1980 South African driver Desire Wilson entered and tried to qualify for the British Grand Prix. She however failed to qualify for the race due to an improperly repaired car.
Ken Tyrrell however was so impressed by Wilson that he offered her a drive for the 1981 South African GP. She qualified 16th, stalled her car at the start, but in the wet caught up to the rest of the pack and passed numerous drivers including Eddie Cheever in the same Tyrrell and astonishingly enough she ran as high as 6th at one stage. She even had a brief battle with Nigel Mansell.
After 51 laps however she damaged her gearbox and had to retired. Of course due to the political trouble of 1981, the South African race was stripped of World Championship status and officially Desire Wilson’s British Grand Prix entry is the only one she has.
Ken Tyrrell offered her a drive for the rest of the year, if she could come up with enough sponsorship, but Michele Alboreto however raised $1 million and he got the drive instead.
Giovanna Amati
The last female driver in Formula One was Giovanna Amati. Giovanne tried to qualify for the South African, Mexican and Brazilian Grand Prix’s of 1992, but failed to qualify for all three.
The only female drivers in recent history that did peak the interest of some Formula One teams and principals were Sarah Fisher, Sarah Kavanagh, Katherine Legge and Danica Patrick. But as of 2008 none of these drivers will be in or anywhere near Formula One, and the possibility of any of them actually getting a drive seem very unlikely.
