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Women racers in Formula One are a rare occurrence, so much so that there have only been five women who have ever taken part in the sport. Of course, there have been test drivers like the recently deceased Maria de Villota and Susie Wolff, but these are the ones who have actually raced in an F1 car.
Maria Teresa de Filippis
In a sport dominated by men, Maria Teresa de Filippis was the first woman to ever compete in a Formula One race. She started out in motorsport following a bet from two of her brothers that she would be slow. She also took part in the Italian sports car championship, where she finished an impressive second in the 1954 season.
Impressed by her performances, de Filippis was given the opportunity to race in the 1958 Monaco GP. But back in the day, the format was that you have to show in the qualifying that you were quick enough to take part in the actual race. She couldn’t qualify alongside future F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone. But the fact that she was fast was without a doubt with de Filippis later claiming in an interview that legendary Juan Manuel Fangio told her that she went too fast and took too many risks.
She took part in the 1958 Belgian race proper as all drivers were allowed to compete irrespective of qualifying timings. She didn’t have a good race, qualifying last, and finished the race in 10th place, which was the last place too as the remaining 9 cars did not finish. According to her, she wasn’t allowed to compete in the French GP as she was a woman, but returned for the Portugese GP, where she qualified last once again. This time, she could not finish the race, as her engine gave out six laps from the finish.
The year 1958 was a bad year for F1 as there were many deaths, and Maria Teresa de Filippis decided to call it a day the following year, distraught at the deaths of a few friends of hers.
Though she wasn’t a big success, she was a pioneer in a sport that hadn’t seen a female driver, and she paved the way for interested women to take up the sport in future.
Lella Lombardi
Lella Lombardi has the distinction of being the most successful female driver in Formula One. Lella is the only female driver in Formula One to have finished in the Top 6 of a World Championship race, thereby becoming the only female driver to have won any championship points. This was in the 1975 Spanish GP, and since the race was a shortened affair, only half points were given. Therefore, she only received 0.5 points instead of the usual 1 point she would have got if it were a normal race length.
She entered in as many as 17 races, starting her F1 career in 1974, thanks to a privately entered Brabham. But in 1975, she raced the entire season with F1 team March. Following that, she had an outing with Williams as well as RAM Racing. Of the 17 races she entered, she qualified for 12 of them, making her the female driver to compete in the most number of races.
Divina Galica
Divina Galica has had a very successful sporting career, both in Skiing as well as motorsports. In Skiing, she has represented Great Britain in the Olympics and was also on the podium of two World Cups. Her racing talent was spotted when she took part in a celebrity auto race, and so started her career in motorsports, with stints in Karts, Formula Two and Formula One, before going on to be successful in sports cars and trucks.
Though she had more success in other forms of motor racing, she did not have a good showing in Formula One. She entered her first World Championship race at the 1976 British GP for the Shellsport team, but failed to qualify. Her other two races were in the 1978 season, racing for Hesketh in the first two races, the Argentine GP and the Brazilian GP. She failed to qualify in both races as well and so could not actually take part in any World Championship race.
Desiré Wilson
Desiré Wilson has had a fantastic career in motorsports, and is famous for being the most accomplished of all the female drivers who have taken part in any form of motorsports so far. Of the various female drivers that have taken part in the sport, she is the only one that could get a licence to drive in the CARTS Indycars and she also has an FIA Super Licence as well.
Because of the Super Licence, she was able to take part in the Formula One World Championships. Unfortunately, for both the sport and her, she only entered one race, the 1980 British Grand Prix, but failed to qualify. It was not entirely her fault though, as the car she was given was very inferior to the rest of the field, a car that she had repeatedly beaten in lower Formula Series. She did get another chance in the South African GP, but it wasn’t an official race, due to a dispute between FISA and FOCA.
Giovanna Amati
The last ever female racer in Formula One was Giovanna Amati. As a child, Giovanna Amati was kidnapped for ransom, as her father was a wealthy film owner. She was repeatedly raped and was kept as a captive for as many as 75 days, and she was released after her father paid the ransom of 800 million-lira, which amounted to $933,000 in those days.
Despite this traumatic experience, she still had a good racing career. After taking part in various lower Formula Series races, she was signed up by a Brabham team that was close to leaving Formula One. She got this opportunity due to the original choice, Japanese Akihiko Nakaya not getting the required Super Licence. She entered in 3 races, but failed to qualify with the desired time in all 3.
