Famous Women In Motorsport

Still to this day, the only woman to have recorded a World Rally Championship victory, Mouton’s legacy has long been cemented. Her maiden triumph came in Italy in 1981 before she picked up three more wins the following season. Those successes saw her finish second in the overall standings and helped to deliver her Audi team the manufacturers’ championship. A true inspiration for all male or female racing drivers, Mouton’s reputation is only enhanced by the fact she competed in the Group B era, where rallying was arguably at its most dangerous.

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Sadly no longer with us after passing away in 1992 at just 50 years of age, Lombardi’s achievements ensure she will go down in history. She remains the only female F1 driver to score points in the classification, earning 0.5 thanks to her sixth-place finish at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix, where a shortened race meant only half points were awarded. Lombardi’s exploits didn’t start and end there; one year prior she’d become the first female racing driver to compete in the Race of Champions, while she also featured four times in the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans, with a best finish of 11th in 1977.

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Let’s change gears and shift our focus from an established star to an up-and-comer. Chadwick announced herself on the world stage in 2019 by being crowned champion of the inaugural W Series – the first single-seater series for female racing drivers. Her victories at Hockenheim and Misano – allied with podium finishes in three of the other four races – were enough to see Chadwick take glory ahead of Beitske Visser of the Netherlands. Meanwhile, Chadwick’s exploits have earned her a place in Williams’ Driver Academy – perhaps an indication that further success is to follow.

“My aspirations are greater than just W Series. I want to achieve a lot in this sport and I need more racing under my belt to level up with the top guys,” Chadwick has stated. Who’s to say she won’t join Lombardi in that exclusive club of point-scoring female F1 drivers?

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Inspired by her father’s passion for motorsport, Hawkey got started in karting aged nine and moved onto cars six years later. She soon progressed to GT racing and, like Chadwick, featured in every round of the inaugural W Series in 2019. Since then, Hawkey has tested for MB Motorsport in the British Touring Car Championship and been crowned champion in the Pro-Am class of the Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain.

Ahead of her W Series debut she said: “This could be an opportunity to fulfil my childhood dream of reaching the pinnacle of motorsport and getting to F1.” As one of the brightest young women in motorsport, who’s to say she won’t turn that dream into a reality?

Image received from Esmee Hawkey (@esmee_hawkey), Twitter