Tatiana Calderon is a woman in a man’s world

It is always inspiring to see a woman fighting to keep her place in a man’s world, setting an example for other women; women who are already fighting and women who will come later on.

Motorsport has never been a woman’s domain, but it is not many women who have attempted to overcome that hurdle. Dreams are made to be achieved, and as far as women are concerned Tatiana has taken that first step and broken that age-old ice.

For Tatiana, it starts with taking charge of herself and by maintaining her physical strength and fitness; not just because her career demands it but because she loves sports.

As she makes her presence felt in the field of racing, the demands on her body are multiplied. In addition to that, she has to face the fact that as a woman her physical abilities are less than a man so, she needs to train harder. In turn, that means she needs more hours per day either for her fitness training or for drive training. Running, cycling, swimming - she loves them all and as such enjoys herself while building up her strength.

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She wanted to be a driver for most of her life and to prove her presence in a career that is dominated by men, she has set some rules for herself that she has lived by,

· Discipline and hard work go hand in hand with determination.

· Equality does not have bounds anymore.

· She has set her eyes only on what she achieves.

· Tatiana does not listen to negative comments.

· She does not let her short stature affect her performance.

Tatiana has been behind the wheels for quite a while; at the age of 9, she was driving Go-karts and after that, she was racing a motorcycle on the family farm, but that did not last long. When she became the first woman to win the Easy Kart National Championship in 2005, it was a success that took her to the next step in her career; racing cars. Her first encounter with racing was when she was 14, and she was behind the wheels of a Kia Picanto.

She won the Karting Divisional Championship Snap-on-Stars in 2008, and it was a turning point in her life, after that, she decided to put all her efforts into racing and thereby she decided to bypass a University education. With that, she made her debut in a sports car in the Radical European Master Series 2009, she made second place.

The successes that followed are daunting, to say the least; she was 17 when she took up open-wheel racing in the Star Mazda Championship and had five of the top ten finishes to show for that race. She stayed on with them for the 2011 season as well, and this time achieved the Best Series finish - Tatiana was the first woman to be a Stars Mazda Champion in history. Next, in 2012 we saw her in the European Open Championship, and she got eight top-ten finishes while in 2013, she joined the Double R Racing for the European, the FIA, and the British Formula 3.

With Suzie Wolff; the former racing driver, as her mentor, Tatiana became the first woman -driver to drive in Arden International in 2016 and she was also among the top five in the Dubai Auto Drome. Then, she was a development driver for Sauber Formula 1, while 2017 saw her participating in the World Series Formula V8 where she finished third.

As a test driver for Alfa Romeo, she is setting out to prove that women can do it, as she is more than filling her role. Since no woman has been in the Grand Prix since 1976, she is facing the challenge head-on; expanding her skills and capabilities; a positive path that she is thoroughly enjoying. She is not letting anything stand in her way; be it weather conditions or her own physical height or capabilities.

History is in the making, and just as Neil Armstrong made that first step on the moon, we are witnessing Tatiana as she too makes history; here and now. Stay connected and keep up with Tatiana Calderon; the new test driver, who knows what she will achieve in F1, as soon as she gets there.

For Tatiana Calderon and in her own words, “another step in the right direction,” as she takes her racing career one step at a time, making sure each step is as good as the previous one. Fingers crossed, we will wait as we give her that unconditional backing that she needs; to challenge herself first and then, the world!

For everyone, there are ups and downs, and Tatiana has her ups as well as her downs like the rest of us, but what is important is that when she has a down, she gets up and goes ahead - her eyes trained on the goals ahead that she want to achieve. Setbacks are just intervals to pass, as she moves forward in her chosen career.