Women have continually faced an uphill struggle to enter the male-dominated world of motorsport, with the brave early pioneers paving the way for today’s female drivers.
Despite the fact women first entered the motorsport arena in the late 19th century, their participation has remained relatively rare compared with the number of men.
© U. J. Alexander / Shutterstock.com
In fact, according to research published by Forbes in February 2024, even today, only around 10% of motorsport drivers worldwide are female.
We’re taking a look back at the history of women in motorsport and remembering the intrepid pioneers who challenged the traditional view of men being superior drivers.
First women’s motor race
The first recorded ladies’ race took place in France on 11th June 1897, marking 127 years this month since the Championnat des Chauffeuses event at the Longchamps horse racing track in Paris.
Eight women competed, riding motorised tricycles powered by De Dion engines around the circuit, racing in three heats and then the final. The race was part of a public sporting event for celebrities, the Course des Artistes, with the competitors being mainly theatrical actresses.
Although bicycle races had taken place in the past, the motorised tricycles were a revelation. The winner, costume designer Léa Lemoine, drove a vehicle with a sturdy frame made by leading manufacturer Clément.
Receiving a bracelet for being crowned the world’s first female motor racing champion, she went on to win the annual race at Longchamps in 1898 and 1899 too.
By the turn of the century, a handful of European women had taken part in motor racing events, including on motorcycles and in small cars, with the idea spreading across Europe.
Pioneering women drivers
Another early pioneer of women’s motorsports, Italian Countess Elsa d’Albrizzi came ninth in the gruelling Padua Vicenza Thiene Bassano Treviso Padua Trail in 1899. Competing against men, she was driving a Benz 8HP Rennwagen, which was the racing supercar of its day.
The countess was friends with Bertha Benz, a German automotive innovator and wife of Karl Benz, inventor of the first motor car in 1885. Determined to raise the profile of female drivers in motorsport, the two friends founded the Bertha Benz Foundation to help more women compete in races.
Bertha’s role in the advancement of motor racing is recognised today, with the 194km Bertha Benz Memorial route being officially marked in 2008. It follows the path she took in 1888 on the first long-distance car journey, spanning from Mannheim to Pforzheim in the Black Forest and back.
In the UK and United States, ladies’ motor racing began in 1900 and by World War I, events were also taking place in Canada and Russia.
20th century legends
Although early female racing drivers were more than capable, they still faced many challenges, particularly in dispelling the myth that men were better drivers because of their gender. They struggled to be taken seriously in general.
In 1905, British racing driver Dorothy Levitt, aged 23, earned the nickname in the press of the “Fastest Girl on Earth” when she drove from London to Liverpool and back in just two days in her De Dion-Bouton.
In 1907, German countess Anna Maria Borghese completed the inaugural Peking to Paris rally with her husband. The gruelling 15,000km rally was announced in the newspapers, challenging “fearless men” to take part.
Elisabeth Junek, of the Czech Republic, was the first professional female driver to compete in a Grand Prix, driving a 2.3-litre Bugatti Type 35B in Sicily in 1927. The same year, competing at the Nürburgring circuit, she won the two-litre sports car race at the German Grand Prix.
After World War II, more female drivers began taking part in events, including in 1951, when the first women’s team participated in the Le Mans 24 Hour race. British driver Betty Haig and French driver Yvonne Simon finished 15th in a Ferrari 166 MM Coupé at an average speed of more than 130km per hour.
Can women race in F1?
Formula One has traditionally been a male domain and the number of women in F1 has been low. Maria Teresa de Filippis was the first female Formula One racing driver in the sport’s history since its launch in 1950.
The Italian driver took part in five F1 races, making her debut on 18th May 1958 at the age of 31. She developed an interest in motorsport at the end of WWII and began her racing career at age 22. However, she encountered prejudice, revealing in an interview that when entering the French Grand Prix on 6th July 1958, the race director told her, “The only helmet a woman should wear is at the hairdresser’s”, before banning her from competing.
There have still been only five female F1 drivers in the 74 years since the event began. Italian Lella Lombardi, aged 34, was the only female driver to score a point in an F1 race in 1975 in the Spanish Grand Prix.
British motor racing driver Divina Galica drove in three F1 races during the 1976 and 1978 seasons. She had begun motor racing after successfully competing as captain of the British Women’s Olympics Ski team in 1968 and 1972.
Canadian Desiré Wilson drove for Williams in 1980, when they were developing their famous Williams FW07 racing car, with its powerful Ford Cosworth V8 2,993cc engine. She was recognised as the world’s most accomplished female racing driver, being the only one to also have a licence on the CART Indycars circuit.
The final F1 female driver to date is Italian Giovanna Amati, who drove for Brabham in 1992.
What is the F1 Academy?
A lack of female talent coming through in the past three decades was one of the reasons behind the new F1 Academy - a women only racing championship, which was launched in 2023. The aim of the event is to help female drivers progress to higher levels of the sport. Fifteen drivers compete on the grid, with the cars provided by F1, F2 and F3 teams.
Described as a “revolution in motorsport”, the academy initiative is helping to dispel the incorrect stereotype that women don’t make good drivers.
