Suzane Carvalho

Suzane Carvalho is a former winner of the South American Formula Three Championship (B class), in 1992.

She got quite a late start in motorsport, only taking it up in 1989 when she was 26. Previously, she had been an actress and model, starting out as a child model, and had achieved some fame and notoriety in her home country of Brazil.

Despite its unorthodox timescale, her racing career progressed in the normal way, beginning with karting, then junior single-seaters in the form of Formula 1600 in 1990. She did some of her race training in Canada, and also competed in Formula 2000 there.

She took her first steps in Formula 3 in 1991, with a part-season in the SudAm championship. In 1992, she contested the full SudAm F3 series for the first time, and won the B class on her first attempt.

As a result, she was invited to test a Larrousse Formula One car, but she did not have the funding to do so. This would have made her one of a very small and select group of women who have driven current F1 machinery.

She carried on in F3, although results are proving hard to find. Photos exist of her and Maria Cristina Rosito posing next to a Formula Chevrolet car in 1993, which suggests that they raced each other at some point that year. She did at least some of the SudAm championship in 1994, and one or more races in 1997. Throughout her single-seater career, she was usually short of money and 1992 was the only full F3 season she completed.

As well as F3, she took advantage of any opportunity to race. Between 1993 and 1997, she did four Mil Milhas races at Interlagos, with a best finish of third in 1993. She was driving a Stock Car-spec Opala. Her second attempt, in 1994, she was ninth, driving a Japamovel with a Brazilian-Japanese team. She sat the race out in 1995, but returned in 1996, driving an Aldee TTE prototype as part of an all-female team, with Delfina Frers and Marisa Panagopulo. They did not finish. In 1997, she drove the Aldee to eighth place, with Delfina Frers.

In 1995, she began racing touring cars seriously. She raced in the Copa de Damas women’s championship in Argentina, winning three times. However, her achievements were not fully recognised as she was not eligible for the championship, for some reason.

The following season, she tackled mixed competition, in the Carioca Touring Car Championship. Her first year in the series consisted of four races, three of which she won. Her first full season, in 1997, was not such an immediate success. She earned one pole position and was often near the front, but she had to contend with some very “physical” driving from her male rivals, and incurred some DNFs. Her car for this part of her career was usually a Nissan Sentra.

In 1998, she came to the UK to take part in Formula Palmer Audi and the Vauxhall Vectra Challenge. Her FPA season consisted of four races, and she managed to pick up a few points. She was 25^th in the championship. That year’s winner was Justin Wilson.

Suzane’s own career highlight happened in 1999. She was invited to the USA to race in the Indy Lights Panamericana series, and was able to put together a budget for five races, mostly in Mexico. For the next year, she picked up sponsorship from UOL, and had a best finish of second.

Sadly, she did not get her big break in American oval racing, and returned to Brazil for the 2001 season. That year, she was a racewinner in the Campeonato Brasileiro Ford Fiesta Femenino, a women-only one-make series for the Ford Fiesta. She battled with Maria Cristina Rosito throughout the season, but Maria emerged as the victor.

Her last major competitive activity was four rounds of the Brazilian Clio Cup in 2002, although she did come out of retirement for a guest appearance in one round of the 2011 Sud-Am F3 championship. She did two races at Jacaperaguá, earning a class win and third, and a seventh and sixth place overall.

Since then, Suzane has worked on establishing her own driving school, for both driving and motorcycle riding. She also works as an automotive journalist and broadcaster, often testing new cars, on screen and in print.

(Image source unknown)

Speedqueens sends its condolences to the family and friends of Maria Teresa de Filippis

11th November 1926 - 9th January 2016

Read Maria Teresa's Speedqueens biography here.

(Image from http://katyfairman.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/MariaTeresaDeFilippis.html)

Lorina McLaughlin (Boughton)

Lorina with her 1992 Benetton

Lorina is best known now for racing and hillclimbing Formula One cars from the 1970s and 1980s, but her career goes back much further than that.

She has been racing since 1970, having begun in an Alexis Formula Ford, as Lorina Boughton. Unlike many of her Speedqueen contemporaries, she is not from a family with a history of motorsport, but was introduced to circuit racing by a friend, who took her to Goodwood.

In her first year of racing, she won the BWRDC’s Newcomer award. By 1973, she was their Racing champion.

In 1974, she took over the running of a GRD Formula 3 car from her erstwhile team-mate, Jeremy Gambs, who was stepping down from the cockpit. The car was eligible for the Formula 4 championship that year, so Lorina entered. She was one of the star drivers of the series, and would have won it outright, if she had not had to drop some of her scores to get her final position. She was second overall, with three wins, and two “Man of the Meeting” awards, causing it to be renamed “Driver of the Meeting”.  This achievement netted her a BWRDC Embassy Trophy, and second in their racing championship, as well as the prestigious Lord Wakefield Trophy, for outstanding female contribution to motorsport.   

For the next couple of seasons, Lorina raced a Sark Formula Ford, and a Royale FF2000 car, with some good results, in Formula Ford and Formula Libre. She was also very active in the British Women Racing Drivers’ Club, and was one of those chosen to take part in the Shellsport Ladies Escort Championship, from its beginning in 1974. Her best year in the championship was 1975, when she had her best result of second, at Brands Hatch, with a fastest lap as a consolation. She was fourth in the final standings.

Between 1978 and 1980, she was a multiple championship winner at club level. She won the BARC Teddy Lawry Championship in 1978 and 1980, using one of her single-seaters, and in between, won the BARC FF2000 championship in the Royale, and set a Fastest Time of the Day at the Lydden Hill sprint. The following year, she was awarded the BARC’s Sydney Allard Trophy. A second win in the Teddy Lawry championship was hers in 1980.

Lydden Hill was a favourite track with Lorina; she won the Lydden racing championship in 1982. In the early and middle part of the 1980s, she was active in several different historic Formula Junior cars, including a Gemini, in which she set a Snetterton lap record in 1983. In 1984, she set another record at the same track, this time driving a Lotus 22. This achievement came on the way to a second place in the Historic Formula Junior Championship.

In 1982, she was part of a BWRDC all-female team in the Oulton Park 4-Hour Relay race, driving a Davrian. The other two members of the team were Julie Thwaites, in another Davrian, and Sue Davies, in a Hillman Imp. They were second overall on scratch.

Towards the end of the 1980s, Lorina became increasingly focused on historic competition, and she was proving her mettle in very powerful cars. In 1989, she raced an ex-James Hunt McLaren M23 Formula One car, and won Class B of the Historic Formula One Championship. Her best result was a fourth place, at Magny-Cours, in a Grand Prix support race. In 1991, she took the lap record at Silverstone in a Climax-engined Lotus 20 F1 car, racing in the F1 FISA Trophy. Between then and 1994, she was a regular in historic events, usually in the McLaren. Almost twenty years earlier, she had watched James Hunt race the car.

Lorina took a break from competitive motorsport lasting from 1994 to 2000, during which she concentrated on other things. She had married David McLaughlin in 1989, and together, they promoted historic Formula One, under the banner of “The FORCE” (The Historic European Formula One Car Entrants). Lorina continues to work as a race organiser to this day.

On her return to competition in 2000, she did not ease herself back in with some club meetings in a Formula Ford or a little saloon – she went straight back to the McLaren, demonstrating it at the Coys Festival. Slightly less powerful, but not much, was the Formula 2-spec Brabham BT30 she raced in the Classic Grand Prix championship.

After her return, she became a regular fixture at the big historic motorsport events, including the hillclimb at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. She has won the Ladies’ Award at the FOS seven times, usually in the McLaren, but it is not the only car she has taken up the hill. In 2012, she drove an Arrows A9, and in 2011, an ex-Denny Hulme McLaren M19. Her car in 2013 was an ex-Michael Schumacher Benetton B192 from 1992. In 2015, she drove an Osella F1 car.

Wheel-to-wheel racing had not been forgotten. During 2003, she raced in Europe, and managed at least two sixth places at the Pau Historic Grand Prix. In 2004, she raced the McLaren M23 at the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix Historique, and was twelfth, out of 30. She has also raced a March 711 in the States.

As well as her multiple Ladies’ awards at Goodwood, she set the fastest ladies’ time of the day at the 2008 Cholmondeley Pageant of Power.

In 2012, she travelled to Azerbaijan, for the inaugural Baku City Classic Grand Prix. She drove the Benetton, but it was not one of her best moments, due to fuel pipe issues, and she counts it as her worst race.

In 2015, Lorina was still a regular fixture at historic meetings around the UK, normally in the Benetton, and she demonstrated that car at the Silverstone Classic. In 2016, she took the Arrows up the Goodwood hill again. She is still active as an organiser for The Force.

She was elected President of the BWRDC at the start of 2019.

(Picture copyright Lorina McLaughlin)

Simona de Silvestro

Simona in 2010

Simona de Silvestro is a Swiss single-seater driver who competed mainly in America as a professional racer, before being signed by the Sauber Formula One team as an "affiliated driver". She was born in 1988.

Being born in Switzerland meant that, after a karting career, she had to race elsewhere. She did one season of Italian Formula Renault before moving to the States. This season was rather up-and-down in nature, with a fifth place at Monza its highlight, and two other top-ten finishes, but also some disappointing performances, and four retirements. She was 20th overall.

Her first US season proved to be a change in fortunes. Driving in Formula BMW for EuroInternational, Simona was much more on the pace,  and did everything apart from win - she was second twice, at Lime Rock and Mosport, and the only time she was out of the top ten, was when she was disqualified during the second Lime Rock race. She was fourth overall.  

She then moved on to the Champ Car Atlantic junior series in 2007, with Walker Racing. Despite a poor start to the season, with two retirements from her first two races, her best finish was seventh, at Mont Tremblant, and she also managed to pick up a tenth place at San Jose. She was 19th overall at the end of the season. For a change, she also made a guest appearance in an SCCA race, driving a Mazda MX-5.

She returned to the championship in 2008 with Newman Wachs. This proved to be a real turning point in her career. During the first round at Long Beach, she became the second-ever woman to win a race, moving up from her qualifying position of second. After that, she achieved a string of other top-ten finishes, including two fourths at Road Atlanta and Trois-Rivieres. Apart from two retirements, she only finished outside the top ten three times. She was eighth overall.

After being a regular fixture in the Atlantic top ten in 2008, she improved her performance once more in 2009, only finishing outside the top three on three occasions, two of which were retirements. She scored four wins, four seconds and one third, and was third overall. Her team this year was Team Stargate Worlds.

She graduated to the Indy Racing League in 2010, still supported by Stargate, in conjunction with the HVM team. Her season started solidly, although not spectacularly, with a pair of 16th places at Sao Paulo and St Petersburg, then a 21st at Barber. Normally, she qualified slightly higher. Her first Indy 500 led to a 14th place, battling from 22nd on the grid. This earned her a Rookie of the Year award. A trio of DNFs then followed, including a fiery accident at Texas, which left Simona with burns to her hand. However, when she returned for the Toronto round, she shot up from 21st on the grid to ninth, her best finish so far. Later in the season, she managed to better it, with eighth at Mid-Ohio, but she could not maintain the momentum, and had three more non-finishes. She was 19th overall.

She was retained by the team for 2011, and started well, with a fourth at St Petersburg and ninth at Barber. After this, her pace dropped off, leading to 20th places at Long Beach and São Paulo. The Indy 500 gave her a DNF, following a string of dramatic incidents; another spectacular crash during practice left her with burns, of varying severity, on both hands. She was allowed to qualify with the team’s spare car, and was classified 24th, but did not finish.

Two indifferent races at Texas followed, then another practice crash at Milwaukee, which preceded another retirement. Simona did not attend the next race, in order to recover from what appears to have been concussion. Her return at Toronto gave her a tenth place, her only top ten of the season, but then bad luck struck again, and she had to miss another round due to issues with her passport. The last rounds gave her a twelfth, fourteenth and a DNF. She was 20th at the end of the year.

Her contract with HVM continued for 2012, this time driving the new Lotus-engined car. Simona and the team struggled with reliability in the early part of the season, only finishing every other race, and hoped that a new engine from Lotus would improve their fortunes. Sadly, it did not make much difference: the DNFs continued and Simona's best finishes were a pair of fourteenth places, at Belle Isle and Iowa. She did not finish the Indy 500, after qualifying in 32nd place. Her final championship position was 24th. 

Unsurprisingly, she switched teams for 2013, moving to KV Racing Technology, alongside Tony Kanaan. She was on the pace quickly, qualifying third for her first race, and finishing sixth, and following up with top-ten finishes at Long Beach and São Paulo. Indianapolis itself was mediocre, with Simona finishing 17th, although up from 24th on the gird. A mid-season lull followed, but she managed to drag herself out of it, and back into the top ten, at Toronto. Things really picked up towards the end, with a fifth place at Baltimore, then a second at Houston, the best of Simona's career. This was a first podium position for a female driver, on an Indycar road course. A tenth and an eighth rounded out the season, and she was thirteenth overall.

Despite her comparative success, Simona's management have hinted that she was not happy with the KV team, and certain KV people admitted as much in 2014.

Another catalyst for Simona to move on, was a testing deal with the Sauber Formula One team, as an "affiliated driver". This was offered as a year of testing and training, with a view to a race seat in 2015. As she was not one of the team's official test drivers, she was only allowed to drive non-current machinery. She tested a 2012 Sauber at Fiorano and Valencia, and has covered sufficient distance to be awarded a Superlicence. She hoped to secure the place in the team, and had sponsorship from an energy company towards achieving this. Unfortunately, an announcement was made at the start of October, to the effect that Simona's financial backing was no longer in place, and she was no longer in the running for a 2015 race seat. Team principal, Monisha Kaltenborn, was said to be considering an alternative role for her within the team., but Simona's "affiliation" was pronounced over. She ceased working with her manager in November, and was said to be considering a return to the IRL. 

She did, in fact, return to Indycar, but only briefly, driving for Andretti Autosport. She did three races, one of which ended in an impressive fourth place, at NOLA. She was also 18th at St. Petersburg, and 19th at Indianapolis itself. Later in the season, she moved across to the Andretti Formula E team, having done two guest races for them in London. Her season started slowly, with a DNF in China, but she was thirteenth at Putrajaya and eleventh at Punta del Este. She took her first points finish at Long Beach, with a ninth place, and repeated it in Berlin. She was 18th in the championship.

In October, she also travelled to Australia for the Bathurst 1000. She was driving in the first all-female team for over ten years, sharing a Prodrive-prepared Ford Falcon with Renee Gracie. An accident by Renee left them down the order, but they were classified in 21st place.

In 2016, she decided that Australia was where her racing future lay. She and Renee Gracie teamed up again for the Bathurst 1000, driving a works-prepared Nissan Altima. They were fourteenth overall, an improvement on last year. Towards the end of the year, it was announced that Simona would be racing full-time in Supercars in 2017. She signed a three-year deal, which, unusually, was with the series promoters themselves, rather than an individual team.

She drove a Nissan Ultima in Australian Supercars in 2017, supported by Nissan Motorsport Australia. It was a very challenging year and she struggled to get the car working how she liked it. Her best finish was thirteenth, which she picked up twice at Phillip Island.

In 2018, she was 23rd in the Supercar championship after another trying year. Her best result was twelfth at Barbagallo.

At the end of 2018, she was announced as the Venturi Formula E team's official test driver. She took part in the in-season test day in Saudi Arabia in December, alongside other female drivers, encouraged by the Saudi motorsport authorities.

2019 was her final season in Supercars. Her last year in the Altima was still quite underwhelming, although she did manage a seventh place at Pukehohe. Her other activities during the year gave clues to her future destination; she joined the Heninricher/Meyer Shank all-female IMSA team for the Daytona 24 Hours, finishing twelfth in class in an Acura NSX with Katherine Legge, Bia Figueredo and Christina Nielsen. Later, she was announced as the fledgling Porsche Formula E team's official test driver.

Back in Europe, she contested the 2020 ADAC GT Masters with Kus TEam75 Bernhard, driving a Porsche 911. It was an inconsistent season with a couple of strong fourth-placed finishes at the Nurburgring and Hockenheim, but she was unable to maintain any momentum and was not helped by car damage leading to non-starts later in the season. She was 23rd in the championship. 

In September, she made a guest appearance in the GT World Challenge Europe, driving a similar Porsche for Rowe Racing. She and her team-mates were eighth at the Nurburgring. 

The biggest moment of her 2021 season was a comeback at the Indy 500. She had been hired by Paretta Autosport, a "female-led" team with women as managers and engineers as well as drivers, including team principal Beth Paretta. Sadly, Simona retired from the race quite early.

The rest of her year was spent in Europe. Another run in a Porsche in the GT Masters, this time with Precote Herberth Motorsport, led to 23rd in the championship for Simona and her co-driver Klaus Bachler. Their best result was a sixth place at Oschersleben, plus sevenths at Sachsenring and the Nurburgring.

She drove another Porsche in the NLS, a Cayman, in which she won the class for alternative-fuel cars twice. Later in the season, she made another guest appearance in the Scandinavian Carrera Cup at Rudskogen. She scored two fifths and one sixth place, and one fastest lap.

A return to Indycar beckoned in 2022. She did four races for Paretta Autosport. This did not include the Indy 500. Her best result was an 18th place at Mid-Ohio. Away from motorsport, she raced in the one-woman "monobob" bobsleigh category during the winter.

Apart from bobsleigh and some development duties for the Porsche Formula E team, her only race in 2023 was the Bathurst 1000km. She drove a Mustang GT with Kai Allen for Dick Johnson Racing, finishing 20th overall.

Motorsport-wise, 2024 was a quiet year. She raced at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, and drove for the Kiro team in the Formula E Women's Test  at Jarama. Her bobsleigh training continued and she began competing in the two-woman bob event.

(Picture by Lisa Hurley, from paddocktalk.com)

Women drivers in Formula One tests since 1992

1992 marks the last time that a female driver, Giovanna Amati, drove a contemporary Formula One car in a Grand Prix. Since then, other women racers have been linked with F1 drives, although none has ever materialised.

There have been a few women who have tested F1 machinery, however; in most cases, the tests were well-publicised, but in one case, their status remains unclear. Below are details of these F1 excursions.

Sarah Kavanagh - Irish racer Sarah’s name was linked with more than one active Formula One team in the early and mid-2000s. She may well have undertaken some testing laps for at least one team. Statements made by the teams themselves about her have been ambiguous or lacking, so it is hard to gauge exactly what the nature of the testing was. In 2001, she passed a fitness test organised by McLaren, and confirmed by team director Martin Whitmarsh stating that “there is nothing in the results that suggest that Sarah could not drive a Formula One car right away”. Driving tests at Pembrey followed, but these were done through the Carlin Formula Three team, and did not involve F1 machinery. Again, this was confirmed by a positive statement by team owner Trevor Carlin. The tests did not lead to a racing or development seat.

In 2004, she was linked to a testing and development drive for the Jordan team, following her performances in a Jordan in EuroBOSS. The deal was said to have collapsed at the last minute due to a lack of funding, or due to contractual issues. The Jordan team made no official communications relating to this deal. It is not known whether Sarah ever did test a current Jordan.

At the same time, she was linked to a very similar role at Jaguar, which was confirmed by the team themselves. She was offered a testing and development seat in return for a sufficient sponsorship package to allow her to compete in British F3 with Carlin, as preparation. The package was said to be in the £1 million range. Sarah and her management were unable or unwilling to raise the money, and the testing went no further.

Sarah Fisher - IRL regular Sarah definitely tested a then-current McLaren-Mercedes F1 car in 2002. The test, which was more of a demonstration, was carried out in the very public arena of a support slot for the US Grand Prix at the Indianapolis road circuit.

The test did not lead to any further test laps, and was done more for publicity purposes than as genuine driver assessment. At the time, Sarah was one of the IRL’s most popular drivers, and Formula One wanted to capitalise on her fame, in order to promote itself in the United States.

Katherine Legge - prior to her Champ Car season, Katherine tested for the Minardi F1 team in 2005. The test itself appeared to be a genuine driver assessment, carried out at an official test day at Vallelunga. During the first day, Katherine spun her car after only three laps, damaging the front right suspension. The car was repaired for the second day, and she completed 27 laps, with a fastest time of 1:21:17, only sixteen hundredths of a second slower than official Uruguayan driver, Juan Caceres. She was faster than official Minardi tester, Chanoch Nissany.

Although Minardi boss Paul Stoddart pronounced himself impressed with Katherine, her test did not lead to a race seat. Minardi had already been sold to Red Bull at that point, and the new Toro Rosso squad was selected by them.

Maria de Villota - tested for the Lotus Renault team in August 2011. The tests took place at Paul Ricard as part of official sessions. Maria covered 300km in the 2009-spec R29, which would be enough for her to be awarded a Superlicence, should a race seat be offered to her. Eric Boullier, the Lotus team principal, described her as “not putting a foot wrong all day”. No lap times have been published.

Further to the test, Maria also did some demonstration laps at a World Series by Renault meeting, this time in a 2010-spec car. Negotiations to drive with Lotus were said to be ongoing, but no contract was signed. Maria was instead signed by Marussia, in order to undertake testing duties in 2012. She was seriously injured in an accident at her first test session, at Duxford airfield, and died in 2013.

Susie Wolff - signed as a development driver by Williams in 2012. She mainly concentrated on development work in the simulator, and the wind tunnel, but took to the track for the Friday practice sessions of the British and German Grands Prix in 2014. Her British session ended abruptly after only one lap, when the engine on the Williams failed. The German session threatened to go the same way after an electronic fault stopped her from changing gear, but the problem was rectified. Susie did several practice laps and some practice pitstops, and undertook some aerodynamic testing. She was 15th (out of 22) on the day's time sheets, and her best lap was 2/10 second slower than team-mate, Felipe Massa.

This was the first time since 1992 that a female driver has directly participated in a race weekend. She did some more Friday testing in 2015, but decided to retire mid-season, due to a lack of actual racing opportunities.

Simona de Silvestro - signed as an "affiliate driver" with Sauber, for the 2014 season. This was intended as a year of development and preparation for a possible race seat in 2015. As FIA rules strictly limit testing, her work was done in a 2012 Sauber car. In April, she completed at least 190 laps in a Formula One car, at Fiorano, and now qualifies for a Superlicence. She also tested at Valencia during the summer. No times have been published, although a short video was released of her Valencia test. Sauber managers were very positive about her performances in the media, and engineer Paul Russell stated that she had "drove well, had a good pace and was consistent." Simona herself keeps a relatively low media profile. Unfortunately, Simona's sponsor pulled out, leaving her unable to take up any further Sauber drives.

Carmen Jordá - signed as a development driver by Lotus, in February 2015. Her role in the team was rather vague and her duties appear to have been confined to the simulator. She was quietly dropped from Renault F1's test driver roster in 2016, and was referred to instead as a Renault Sport test driver.

Tatiana Calderon - announced as a development driver for Sauber in March 2017. She initially worked in the simulator, but drove the Alfa Romeo Sauber car on two occasions in 2018, one a demonstration run in a current car and one a test in and older machine..

Rosemary Smith - the veteran rally driver did some practice laps in a recent Renault Formula One car in summer 2017. She was 79 years old at the time. The test was purely a media exercise and was made into an advertising video celebrating 40 years of the Renault marque.

Aseel al-Hamad - drove one lap of the Paul Ricard circuit in a non-current Renault F1 car at the 2018 French Grand Prix. Aseel is from Saudi Arabia and her drive was in recognition of Saudi women being given the right to drive in their homeland. No times were published as this was a promotional exercise. In 2022, she did another demo run in an Alpine (Lotus) E20 from 2012, a similar car to the one she used before. The drive was a PR event ahead of hte Saudi Grand Prix and she was joined by recently-recruited Alpine affiliate driver Abbi Pulling. It was a street run and not timed.

Jamie Chadwick - announced as a Williams F1 development driver in May 2019. She has not yet driven the car in public and has mostly worked on the simulator.

Jessica Hawkins - tested a 2021 Aston Martin F1 car in Hungary in September 2023. No times were published, although the team spoke encouragingly of her performance. Jessica is a "driver ambassador" for the team and is not part of its official line-up.

(Image from http://photos.indystar.com/galleries/11311-starfiles-sarah-fisher-s-racing-career)

Carmen Jordá

Carmen Jordá is a single-seater racer from Spain. She began karting at the age of eleven, in her native Valencia. Her first taste of full-sized circuit racing was in Master Junior Formula in 2005. This is a single-seater racing series for drivers under the age of eighteen. Carmen was sixteen when she started, and was seventh in the championship in her first year.

She did her first Formula 3 races the following year, as well as carrying on in Master Junior Formula. The junior series gave her a ninth place overall. The Formula 3 Copa España guest spots she took gave her a pair of eighteenth places at Valencia.

In 2007, she was fourth in the F3 Copa España, with three podium finishes: third places at Albacete, Magny-Cours and Jerez. Her other races resulted in fourths and fifths. In the main F3 championship, she did not fare as well, with her best result being a twelfth, at Jerez, late in the season. Her other races resulted in finishes ranging from thirteenth to 21st, and she was twentieth in the final standings.

This arrangement continued throughout 2008, although Carmen was now driving for Campos Racing, rather than Meycom Sport. Again, her best results came in the Copa, with fourth places at Albacete and Jerez. As well as these, she earned eight further top-ten finishes, and was eighth overall in the championship. In the main F3 draw, she once more found it more challenging, but her results were an improvement on those of 2007. She broke into the top ten twice, at Jerez and Magny-Cours, and was 21st overall, despite scoring her first points, which she failed to do in 2007.

  

Her single-seater schedule remained the same in 2009, although Spanish F3 was now the Euro F3 Open, and she was mainly under the care of GTA Racing with Campos. On the track, a string of DNFs mid-season dropped her down the rankings. Her best Open finish was ninth at Magny-Cours, while in the Copa, it was second, also at Magny-Cours. In the main championship, she did not visit the top ten again, although she managed several further top ten finishes, with one more podium at Catalunya, in the Copa. She was 21st in the Euro F3 Open, and sixth in the Copa España.

As well as her F3 activities, Carmen also did some sportscar racing in the Le Mans Series, driving a Judd-engined Lucchini LMP2 for the Hache Q8 Oils team. One of her two team-mates was the MotoGP rider Fonsi Nieto, who was her boyfriend at the time. The other was Maximo Cortes. The trio were entered into the Algarve, Nürburgring and Silverstone rounds, but did not finish any of them.

In 2010, she moved to the USA to compete in Firestone Indy Lights. The deal she had with Andersen Racing was initially for the full season, but this was curtailed to five events. She started brightly enough at St. Petersburgh, coming eleventh on her debut, but did not finish at Barber Motorsports Park with gearbox trouble. She bounced back at Long Beach, scoring her best finish: tenth. A temporary absence from the championship followed, but she was back for round seven, in Toronto. Sadly, she did not finish there, or at Edmonton shortly afterwards. Her season ended there. She struggled particularly with ovals and did not pass her oval driving test. This concluded her attempts to crack the US scene.

After sitting out 2011, Carmen returned in 2012, back in Europe. She raced in the GP3 F1 support series for Ocean Technology, with an eye on progressing up the European single-seater ladder again. It was rather a difficult season for her, with her fair share of DNFs, and a non-start at Silverstone due to illness. Her best finish was thirteenth, at Valencia. She was unofficially 28th in the championship. After the main season, she travelled to India for the MRF Challenge, where she finished four races, with a best result of ninth. 


She moved to the Bamboo Engineering team for 2013, still in GP3. Her team-mate for much of the season was Alice Powell. Carmen showed more reliability, finishing thirteen of her sixteen races. Her best finish was 18th, achieved in the second race of the season, at Catalunya. She was not among the front-runners, but was usually able to keep going to the finish. She was unplaced in the championship.

After that, she took part in some MRF Challenge races again, this time in Bahrain. Her results were a ninth, and two thirteenth places. 

She returned to GP3 in 2014, now driving for the Koiranen GP team. She was still not really on the pace, managing to equal her best 2013 finish on two occasions, but not more. Her 17th places were at Spa and Silverstone, and she got into the top twenty twice more during the season, at the Red Bull Ring and Monza. 

In a surprise move, Carmen was signed by the Lotus Formula One team in February 2015, as a development driver. This role would be similar to Susie Wolff's first year with Williams; mostly simulator work, with a chance of some race weekend testing later in the year. Her appointment did not go down well with many in the motorsport world. As well as legitimate questions about her suitability, a lot of tired sexism was thrown around. Carmen did not comment personally.

Lotus became Renault in 2016. Carmen continued in her development role, but for Renault Sport this time, rather than the F1 team. She also did some racing, for the first time in a while, taking part in the Renault Sport Trophy in a NISMO-engined Renault Sport RS01. She scored a string of ninths and eighths in the AM Trophy, and was fifth overall. She began the season in the Pro class, but moved down. Although she was stronger in the more competitive Endurance trophy, the bigger field meant that she was only sixteenth, despite a sixth place at Spa, and two sevenths at Aragon Motorland and the Red Bull Ring.

In 2017, she remained in the Renault development team, although her role there became more vague. Mid-season, she did some competitive karting, describing it as "the purest form of motorsport" (and paraphrasing Ayrton Senna). Her future plans are unclear. 

She caused a social media backlash when she spoke on Twitter and elsewhere about how she wanted there to be a women's Formula One championship, particularly as she claimed that women were unable to compete fairly against men.

The backlash against her continued when she announced that she had been elected to the FIA's Women in Motorsport Commission. It is unclear what role she will be performing within it.

She did very little racing in 2018, apart from a run at the Goodwood Members' Meeting in an MG Metro. She did test some cars, however. In the autumn, she was one of the drivers selected for an assessment day by the Women in Motorsport Commission, testing a Formula Renault and a Porsche. In December, she took part in the Formula E in-season test at ad-Diriyah. The Saudi motorsport authority was keen to have female drivers testing and Carmen drove for Nissan with Oliver Rowland. There was some confusion as to whether she or Oliver had set the second-fastest time, but it was later stated that Carmen only did an in and out lap in the car.

Carmen did not race in 2019, but she was planning a return to the tracks in 2019, racing in the Euroformula Open Formula 3 series with Fox Racing. This did not come to fruition, and she had to wait until the second half of 2021 to get back in a car. She raced in the Ultimate Cup with Nicolas Prost, using a Formula 3 Regional car. Her first race was at Magny-Cours. 

Earlier in the year, she appeared in promotional material for De Tomaso's "Isabelle" P72 prototype, paying homage to Isabelle Haskell de Tomaso. She was described as the Scuderia De Tomaso's development driver and future racer.

Away from the track, Carmen has done quite a lot of fashion modelling, which has helped her profile in Spain. She also dated Moto GP rider, Fonsi Nieto, for quite some time.

(Image from www.carmenjorda.com)

Women in Formula One - the results

Maria Teresa de Filippis

This post gives a complete set of results for female drivers in the Formula One World Championship.

1958

Monaco

Maria Teresa de Filippis (Maserati 250F) - DNQ

Belgium

Maria Teresa de Filippis (Maserati 250F) - 10th

Portugal

Maria Teresa de Filippis (Maserati 250F) - DNF

Italy

Maria Teresa de Filippis (Maserati 250F) - DNF

1959

Monaco

Maria Teresa de Filippis (Behra Porsche F2) - DNQ

1974

Great Britain

Lella Lombardi (Brabham BT42) - DNQ

1975

South Africa

Lella Lombardi (March 741) - DNF

Spain

Lella Lombardi (March 751) - 6th

Monaco

Lella Lombardi (March 751) - DNQ

Belgium

Lella Lombardi (March 751) - DNF

Sweden

Lella Lombardi (March 751) - DNF

The Netherlands

Lella Lombardi (March 751) - 14th

France

Lella Lombardi (March 751) - 18th

Great Britain

Lella Lombardi (March 751) - DNF

Germany

Lella Lombardi (March 751) - 7th

Austria

Lella Lombardi (March 751) - 17th

Italy

Lella Lombardi (March 751) - DNF

United States

Lella Lombardi (Williams FW04) - qualified, but not allowed to start.

1976

Brazil

Lella Lombardi (March 761) - 14th

Great Britain

Lella Lombardi (Brabham BT44B) - DNQ

Divina Galica (Surtees TS16) - DNQ

Germany

Lella Lombardi (Brabham BT44B) - DNQ

Austria

Lella Lombardi (Brabham BT44B) - DNQ

1978

Argentina

Divina Galica (Hesketh 308E) - DNQ

Brazil

Divina Galica (Hesketh 308E) - DNQ

1980

Great Britain

Desiré Wilson (Williams FW07) - DNQ

1992

South Africa

Giovanna Amati (Brabham BT60B) - DNQ

Mexico

Giovanna Amati (Brabham BT60B) - DNQ

Brazil

Giovanna Amati (Brabham BT60B) - DNQ

(Image copyright Hulton/Getty Images)

Susie Wolff (Stoddart)

Susie as a Williams driver

Oban's Susie Wolff (known before her marriage to Toto Wolff as Susie Stoddart) is currently one the top-ranked woman drivers in the world.

As a young karter she was certainly the best female driver. Between 1994 and 2001 she raced all over the world and picked up a string of victories, including a win in the prestigious Middle East 24 Hour Championship. She was also one of Britain's highest-achieving karters of the time.

Susie's introduction to cars came in 2001 in the Avon Junior Formula Ford championship. That year, she combined her on-track activities with college studies and accepted a place on a business studies course. The young Scottish girl was an academic high-flier as well as a racing star and introduced herself gently to full-sized competition in order to complete her education.

Formula Renault was becoming the most talked-about proving ground for young drivers after Kimi Raikkonen's success, and Susie entered the series in 2002 with DFR Racing. As part of a single-car team, she suffered from not having a team-mate to compare notes with and push against, but still ended the season in seventeenth overall, with a best finish of tenth at Oulton Park.

After impressing in the main 2002 championship and that year's Winter Series, top-line Formula Renault team Motaworld offered Susie a seat for 2003. She started well with some solid top-ten finishes but really came alive towards the end of the year, coming an excellent third at Snetterton. This was even more impressive considering that her car was completely destroyed in a fiery accident at the Silverstone round, sapping both her budget and her bravery. She bounced back immediately, to the surprise of some. She finished the year in ninth spot. The icing on the cake that season was being selected as a finalist in the Autosport Young Driver Award, given only to the best young British talent. After a series of driving tests in an F3 and DTM car, the eventual champion was Robbie Kerr.

Going into the 2003 Winter Series, Susie was one of the favourites, but bad luck struck again and she crashed early on. She never regained momentum and only impressed in the consolation race.

Never on to let a setback bother her, she returned to Formula Renault in 2004 with Comtec Racing after securing a lucrative sponsorship deal with BT Broadband. Another welcome cash injection came when she was named a BRDC "Rising Star". A much more accomplished and confident Susie was claiming top-ten finishes from the start and keeping up with her more experienced team-mate Westley Barber. Her best finish was second at Brands, and she was tipped to record her first win before the year was out. Unfortunately, this particular achievement eluded her, but she still finished the season in fifth, with three podiums to her name.

Throughout 2004, Susie was linked to a seat in GP2 for the 2005 season. This did not materialise. She tested a World Series by Renault car at Paul Ricard early in 2005, but instead ended up in British F3, a proven step on the Formula One career ladder. She was snapped up by Alan Docking Racing and much was expected of her. Sadly, her F3 season went out with a whimper rather than a bang after only two races. Susie had been racing with a foot injury sustained on New Year's Day and had to pull out to allow it to recover properly. Her only other competitive outing of the year was a VIP drive in the Porsche Carrera Cup at Brands Hatch.

A revitalised Susie made a comeback in early 2006, making somewhat of a u-turn with a switch to touring cars. She was enlisted by Mücke Motorsport for their DTM effort, diving a 2004 AMG Mercedes. In the first race of the season, the Scottish girl impressed many with a tenth position, up with the more-developed 2005 and 2006 cars. The next few races were more of a trial: she was 15th at Lausitz and Oschersleben and 16th at Brands Hatch, before retiring at the Norisring and the Nürburgring. She was more impressive at Zandvoort, finishing twelfth out of twenty, but was 15th and last at Barcelona. The last two races were more hopeful: she was thirteenth at Le Mans and ninth at Hockenheim, her second top-ten finish.

She stayed with the Mucke team in 2007, although she was now driving a 2005-spec Mercedes C-Class. Although it was newer than her previous car, it was still one of the oldest on the grid. On the track, it was another slow learning year, which must have been frustrating for Susie. She did not finish her first race at Hockenheim, was 16th at Oschersleben and a slightly more promising twelfth at Lausitz. However, she was back down to 16th at Brands Hatch, her home race, and the Norisring. Her best race was at Mugello, where she finished tenth. At Zandvoort, she was a disappointing 17th, and 18th at the Nürburgring. She retired from the Barcelona race and was fourteenth in her last event at Hockenheim.

Looking for a more competitive ride in a newer car, Susie left the Mucke operation at the end of the year, in favour of the Persson Motorsport team. She drove an 07-spec C-Class for the 2008 season. Her team-mate was Gary Paffett, an experienced and competitive racer. Sadly, Susie’s season started badly again, with a 16th at Hockenheim. She improved a little at Oschersleben, coming fourteenth, and was 15th at Mugello. She retired at the Lausitzring, but was a season’s-best tenth at the Norisring, which had previously been somewhat of a bogey track for her, judging by results. She was then 15th at Zandvoort, a more hopeful twelfth at the Nürburgring and 18th at Brands Hatch, before retiring at Barcelona. She was twelfth at Le Mans and retired once more from the Hockenheim round. It had been another difficult season, but it is also notable that Gary Paffett struggled to get into the top ten for a lot of it as well.

Persson retained Susie for 2009, alongside a new team-mate, Jamie Green. They were both given 08-spec C-Class cars. Yet again, Susie’s campaign, in her new pink-liveried car, started inauspiciously with a retirement at Hockenheim. She was then eleventh at Lausitz, tenth again at the Norisring and eleventh at Zandvoort. Pleasingly, she entered the top ten again at Oschersleben, and was only one place behind her team-mate. Another eleventh followed at the Nürburgring, and she was thirteenth at Brands Hatch. A slightly less competitive 15th was her final place at Barcelona. Le Mans gave her a twelfth, and she retired from her final race, at Hockenheim. Although Susie still did not manage to break into the points–scoring top eight in 2009, she showed more consistency in her finishing, and was close to Jamie Green’s finishing positions in some races.

She stayed with Persson for 2010, retaining her 2009 car and team-mate. At Hockenheim, she was eleventh, six seconds ahead of David Coulthard. At Valencia, she was tenth, and at Lausitz, a career-best seventh - her first DTM points. The Norisring was a disappointment, with only a fifteenth to show for it, and she did not finish at the Nürburgring, and she was an underwhelming fifteenth again at Zandvoort. Another early exit awaited her at Brands Hatch. She was back in the top ten at Oschersleben, and seventh again at Hockenheim, but only fourteenth at Adria. The Shanghai round gave her an eleventh. She was thirteenth in the championship.

She remained with the same team in 2011. In all other respects, the season ran in the same way. Susie's best finish was eleventh at Valencia, and she mostly stayed on the track, with one DNF at Oscherselben. She also pulled out of the Lausitz race.

Persson Motorsport retained her services for 2012, now racing under her married name of Wolff. Her best finishes were two twelfths, at Hockenheim and Zandvoort. She did not score any championship points. This was her last DTM season; the Williams F1 team signed her at the beginning of 2012 as a development driver, and she concentrated on this from 2013.

Although Susie enjoyed a high profile as a DTM driver in the UK and Europe, refreshingly, she steered clear of controversy and let her car do the talking. She did trade paint with the series’ other female driver, Katherine Legge, in 2009, but wisely did not allow it to become a media-orchestrated “cat fight”.

Susie continued in her development role in 2013, and also spoke extensively in the media in support of female drivers. Partly, this was due to some disparaging comments made by Stirling Moss, who debated with Susie on UK radio.

After two years with Williams, spent mostly working in the simulator, Susie was added to their active driver roster in 2014. She took to the track for the Friday practice sessions of the British and German Grands Prix in 2014. Her British session was a disaster, with an engine failure after only one lap, right in front of the world's media. This was the first time a female driver had been part of an official Formula One race weekend since Giovanna Amati in 1992, and it was big news. Susie and the Williams team handled the situation with dignity.

The German session threatened to go the same way after an electronic fault stopped her from changing gear, but the problem was rectified after a quick visit to the pits. Susie did several practice laps, some pit stop training, and undertook some aerodynamic testing, guided by her team. She was 15th (out of 22) on the day's time sheets, and her best lap was 2/10 second slower than team-mate, Felipe Massa. Her only faux pas was speeding in the pitlane, for which she was fined.

At the end of the season, she drove for Team Scotland in the Race of Champions, with David Coulthard.

In 2015, she continued her test driver role for Williams, making some appearances at free practice at Grands Prix. In November, however, she conceded that she was not going to be given a race seat, and announced her retirement. The Race of Champions was be her last event.

At the beginning of 2017, she was awarded an MBE for services to women's sport. This was in recognition of her work with Dare To Be Different, an organisation for  women in motorsport that she has founded. D2BD has remained active and organises regular events for young girls, and networking days for adult women.

She was appointed Team Principal of the Venturi Formula E team in 2018, and CEO in 2021, before stepping down in 2022 as the team was taken over by Maserati.

(Image copyright WRi2)

Desiré Wilson

South African Desiré Wilson is most famous for not qualifying for the 1980 British Grand Prix, although elsewhere in her career, she was a big success. She began driving midget cars at the age of five and it was soon clear that she had outstanding talent. At twelve, she came second in the South African nationals. Despite her obvious skill, she decided not to pursue midget racing much further, and concentrated on athletics and riding.

Eventually, she returned to the sport. In 1972, when she was 19, she stepped up to full-size long-track competition and was fourth in South African Formula Vee. The following year, she was runner-up. Ambitious for an international racing career, she switched to Formula Ford, and won the South African championship in 1976.

In order to make further progress up the international motorsports ladder, Desiré moved to Europe for the 1977 season. She competed mainly in Formula Ford still, in the Benelux and UK championships, where she was third and fourth respectively, winning a race at Zandvoort. She also took part in Formula Atlantic, hillclimbs and a few sports and saloon races.

She took another huge jump in 1978 after testing a Formula One March. After impressing team bosses, she signed up for the Aurora F1 Championship, a series for superseded Formula One cars, with a few F2 machines thrown in, similar to the recent EuroBOSS series. She drove a Cosworth-powered Ensign and her best finish was third, at Thruxton. She also came sixth twice and was tenth overall. As she learnt the European tracks, her placings improved. In 1979, at Zolder, she became the first woman to lead an F1 race, in her Tyrrell. Although she spun in the wet, she still fought back to third place and claimed the fastest lap. This was the first of a string of podiums that year. Desiré also kept her hand in in sportscars, driving a Lola to a number of meritorious finishes.

1980 was the year that Desire hit the big time. It started inauspiciously; despite the previous year's triumphs, she was without a sponsor for the Aurora series and retreated to New Zealand to race in Formula Pacific. Teddy Yip's Theodore team came to the rescue, and she was back in the UK, driving a Wolf WR3 for the second round at Brands Hatch. She won the race, having led from the start, the first and so far only woman to have done so. She was also second at Thruxton, a favoured track with Desiré, and third at Mallory Park.

Her Aurora achievements were not her only successes that year. She had formed a partnership with Alain de Cadenet and was sharing driving duties in his self-built Ford prototype in international sportscar races. Back at Brands, scene of her Aurora victory, she and de Cadenet were an impressive third, but the best was yet to come. The pair won both the Monza 1000km and the Silverstone 6-Hour races.

Desiré's star was rising fast. Her exploits in Aurora F1 and with de Cadenet drew the attention of at least one Formula One team. She was selected by private team RAM to drive a year-old Williams FW07 at that year's British Grand Prix. Things looked promising in pre-qualifying, where Desiré was twelfth overall. However, it was not to be her weekend. The car that she had practised in was hurriedly replaced with an inferior, adapted Williams which she had beaten several times that year in Aurora F1. The car's poor aerodynamic modifications and Desiré's lack of experience with it meant that she could not qualify, lapping faster only than Keke Rosberg.

Her run of rotten luck at the top also included that year's Le Mans. After a practice accident, she and Alain de Cadenet managed to set the eighth fastest time, but they were not allowed to start, in view of their earlier shunt.

The following year, she got a chance to redeem herself. After a break from the track, she accepted a drive in her home Grand Prix, with Tyrrell. Disagreements within F1 meant that it was being run as a non-championship race, but it was a strong field nevertheless. She qualified sixteenth and suffered a nightmare start, stalling on the grid. However, once away, she quickly caught up, overtaking her team-mate Eddie Cheever and running as high as sixth. An altercation with Nigel Mansell's car on lap 51 sent her off the track and she retired with gearbox trouble, but she had managed to impress Tyrrell. She was offered further drives, but due to her lack of sponsorship, she was unable to take them up. The political situation in South Africa did not help her cause.

Again at Brands Hatch, she was eighth in a World Championship sportscar race, driving a Porsche with Preston Henn, Edgar Doren and Skeeter McKitterick. Sportscars now became her main focus for the time being. In a similar 935, she raced in the 1982 IMSA series, but failed to finish any races. Preston Henn had hired her for his Swap Shop team, mainly as a driver coach and mentor to his daughter, Bonnie, who was racing for the team that year. When Bonnie decided that motor racing was not for her at the end of 1982, Desiré was let go.

She did not fare any better in the Ford Grid Plaza, in IMSA or at Le Mans. She only lasted 24 minutes of the French classic before the engine expired. Her only really good result that year was a fourth with Jonathan Palmer in an endurance race at Brands, her favourite stamping ground, where there is now a stand named after her.

1982 also saw the start of Desiré's Indycar career. She passed her Indianapolis 500 rookie test without a problem and set a female lap record during qualifying, but once again she was out of luck at the blue-riband event itself. Due to repeated engine failures and the death of a team-mate during practice, her qualifying runs were aborted and she failed to make the grade. The following year she also failed to qualify a March, but took part in eight other Indycar races, with a best finish of tenth at Cleveland. Her finishing record was poor, not always due to driver error, but the two finishes she did score that season were impressive for a novice. This is especially true as she was driving through the pain barrier, due to a leg injury sustained at a sportscar event.

Between 1984 and 1986, she took part in three more CART events, with a best finish of thirteenth, although she never qualified for the Indy 500.

Sportscars had definitely not been forgotten during this time. She competed around the world in different series and scored some decent finishes, but her highlight of 1983 was her seventh place at Le Mans, driving a Porsche 956. With the help of Axel Plankenhorn and Jurgen Lassig, she finally broke her major-race duck with an excellent overall finish and class win.

Although her racing schedule was thinning out somewhat, there was still plenty of competitive spirit left in Desiré. In 1987, she won an enduro at Sears Point, driving a Saleen Mustang with Lisa Caceres. Still with Saleen, she won the Sebring 6 Hours with Scott Pruett, and also won them the constructors' championship. After a few Porsche sportscar outings in Japan and the UK, she returned to single-seaters in 1989 to come fourth in a British F3000 race. In 1991, she had another crack at Le Mans in a Spice SE90C Ford, driven by an all-female crew. Desiré and Lyn St. James were both former Indycar drivers and Cathy Muller was an aspiring single-seater talent. They crashed out early on. Desiré also crashed out of the Daytona 24 Hours two years later. However, that season she redeemed herself, by coming second in a sportscar race at Willow Springs, driving a Mazda RX-7.

After a break from competition, Desiré had a good year in saloon cars in the USA in 1996. She won the Grand Prix-supporting Chrysler Neon Challenge at Detroit, and raced a Mazda in US touring cars. Her best finish there was sixth. Before retiring, she drove the pace car for CART events and helped to organise the all-female PPG pace car team.

For a couple of years, Desiré busied herself with motorsport administration and helping to run her husband Alan's track design business. She was one of the directors of the short-lived Women's Global GT Series, and she and Alan were much in demand as consultants to the motorsport industry. However, she could not get racing out of her system, and continues to race historics to this day. She got a resounding cheer whilst driving a Tyrrell F1 car at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2002, where the commentator announced her as "the only woman to have won an F1 race". That year, she renewed her partnership with Lyn St. James, piloting a Ford Galaxie 500 touring car. Her best finish on the historic scene is probably fifth at the Goodwood Revival, driving an Aston Martin DB4 Zagato with Gillian Goldsmith.

Desiré was a regular visitor to Goodwood: at the 2008 Revival, she fought tooth and nail to keep her Gordini in second place in the Freddie March Memorial Trophy, only to see the car expire before she could hand it over to her team-mate.

Desiré is truly a speedqueen; throughout her racing career, she was easily recognisable by the crown design painted on her helmet. She is one of South Africa's finest motor racing exports.

(Helmet image from www.wilsonmotorsport.com)

Lella Lombardi

Of the five females who have competed in Formula One, Italy's Lella Lombardi was the most successful. She is so far the only woman to have scored World Championship points, even if her sole point for finishing sixth in the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix was reduced to half a point, due to the emergency shortening of the race. There had been safety concerns from the start, and when Rolf Stommelen's car went off the track, killing spectators, the race was halted. This has always overshadowed Lella's achievement.

According to some reports, Maria Grazia Lombardi, as she was then called, developed a fascination for speed after a high-speed mercy dash to the hospital in an Alfa Romeo following a sports accident. Neither of her parents drove and this was her first experience of a fast car. She was hooked. However, perusal of interviews and articles from the time of her F1 career gives a different picture. Lella's father ran a salami factory and she helped him out by driving a delivery truck. She had been fascinated by cars from an early age.

As soon as she had got together enough money, Lella started competing in any car she could, including co-driving a friend's rally car, and racing an Alfa Romeo and a BMW in club saloon events. Italy's Formula Monza was her first destination as a single-seater racer. For several seasons, she moved between Formula Monza, Formula Ford and Formula 3 in Italy. She won the Formula Monza Championship in 1970, having stepped back down from Formula 3 after a couple of unsuccessful seasons in a Branca. Back in Formula 3, she was tenth in the Italian championship in 1972 and 1973, driving for different teams, usually Jolly Club or Scuderia Italia. In 1972, she achieved her first top-five finishes in a Jolly Club Lotus 69: two fifths, at Varano and Imola. She took her first Formula 3 podium the following year, a second at Casale. In addition to this, she qualified for the prestigious Monaco F3 race in 1973, driving a Brabham for Scuderia Italia.

She combined Formula Three with a drive in the Italian Ford Mexico tin-top series and won the championship at her first attempt in 1973.

Lella really announced herself on the scene in 1974 when she came fourth in the UK-based Formula 5000 championship. She had to battle hard against good opposition in the likes of Peter Gethin and Tony Trimmer, especially as she was not the best driver during qualifying and depended on her ability to push hard during the race itself. Her best results were four fourth places at Brands Hatch, Monza, Oulton and Mallory Park. Her car was a Lola T330, sponsored by Radio Luxembourg and Shellsport. Shellsport was the motorsport promotion concern of John Webb, the director of Brands Hatch and a supporter of women racing drivers. Her Shellsport connections had previously led to an invite to take part in two Ladies' and one celebrity Escort race at Brands, which she duly won. She was one of the most competitive members of Webb's Brands Hatch "Charm School" of female drivers and she event participated in events such as the 1973 "Relay Triathlon", with five other women drivers, five runners and five cyclists.

Finances allowed her to enter a couple of non-championship Grands Prix, which she finished, although she was not particularly competitive. She was fourteenth in the Race of Champions at Brands Hatch and thirteenth in the BRDC International Trophy. Apparently, she also raced at Sandown Park in Australia, in a Matich F5000 car.

More power was needed and she got it in the shape of a Ford-engined Brabham BT42 for the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch. The car was run by Hexagon Racing, and had been rented from Bernie Ecclestone, with the help of Webb and Jackie Epstein, from the Radio Luxembourg team. Unfortunately, it was not competitive, and she failed to qualify for her first Formula One event.

However, in 1975, Lella became a fully-fledged F1 driver at the wheel of a 1974-spec works March. She was supported by Count Zanon, of the Lavazza coffee company, and carried its sponsorship on her car. After missing the Argentine and Brazilian rounds, she joined the championship in South Africa. Her fuel system let her down. For the Spanish race, she was offered that year's model and earned her sixth place. She could not qualify for Monaco, and problems with the cooling and fuel systems meant that she did not finish in Belgium or Sweden. She was fourteenth at Zandvoort, 18th at Paul Ricard and did not finish the British race due to an ignition fault. Her other best result of the year was a seventh at the Nürburgring, showing her preference for the more challenging tracks. She was 17th in Austria, crashed at Monza and did not start in the USA, due to another ignition problem. The car was very unreliable and most of Lella's DNFs resulted from mechanical failures rather than accidents. She was also hindered by some sort of communication barrier with her mechanics, which was apparently nothing to do with language difficulties and more to do with them not taking her seriously. After a crash, the March started handling very badly, and Lella reported this to the team. They asked her team-mate, Vittorio Brambilla, to test the car out, and he reported nothing wrong. It was only during the following season, when Ronnie Peterson drove the car, that it was found that the rear assembly was cracked. Some members of the March team still feel guilty at their role in her poor season and subsequent lack of chances.

She qualified for every race except Monaco and proved herself capable of holding her own most of the time, even if further points finishes were not forthcoming.

For the US GP she had switched to a Williams after her sponsorship money from Lavazza started to dry up.

For the Brazilian GP in 1976, she was back in a March, in fourteenth place, but she was replaced by Ronnie Peterson afterwards. She drove an RAM Racing Brabham for the British, German and Austrian GPs but only finished once, a twelfth place at the Osterreichring. She did not qualify for the British race and her car was impounded prior to the German event, due to Customs problems.

Lella's F1 career finished there, but her motorsport life was certainly not over. She took the traditional path of the underachieving F1 driver and took up sportscar racing. However, this is not an entirely accurate assessment of Lella's sportscar career, as she had begun it earlier, and well. Her first Le Mans was in 1975, when she shared an Alpine with the Frenchwoman Marie-Claude Beaumont, but they retired after eight hours. Next year, Lella and Christine Dacremont finished second in class and 20th overall in a Lancia Stratos. The following year, she teamed up with Christine Beckers in a works Inaltera to finish eleventh overall, her best ever result.

Lella was active in the World Sportscar Championship from 1974 onwards. That year, she was set to race a Jolly Club Lola T282 Ford in the Brands Hatch 1000km, but the car expired during her team-mate Pino Pica's stint and she did not get to drive.

It was not just at Le Mans that Lella drove an Alpine Renault with Marie-Claude Beaumont. They shared an A441 run by Ecurie Elf Switzerland for most of the 1975 World Championship season. After initially not gelling as a team, they were sixth at Mugello and thirteenth at Dijon, after engine trouble. At Monza they were a strong fourth, and won their class. Unfortunately, broken rear suspension put them out at Pergusa before the race even started, and a camshaft belt drive went early on at Zeltweg.

Lella and Marie-Claude in 1976

Their partnership did not continue in 1976. Lella drove a series of Porsches in the World Championship, for different teams. She started out in Michele di Gioia's Carrera RSR at Mugello, but its engine failed five laps in. At Vallelunga, she was slated to drive a similar RSR for Egon Evertz, but this did not happen. She got to drive for Evertz's team at Silverstone, in a 934. Her co-driver was Heinz Martin and they were fifth, first in the GT class. The same team, plus Evertz himself, were not as successful at the Nürburgring 1000km, crashing out on lap 29.

Later in the year, Lella sampled an Osella PA4 at the Coppa Florio at Pergusa. She and Danilo Tesani did not finish after an accident on lap 41. At Dijon, the same team made the finish, despite engine problems. They did not finish at Salzburg due to a water leak.

1977 was another mixed year. Lella and Christine Beckers drove an Inaltera at the Daytona 24 Hours, finishing 47th after an accident. She then teamed up with with Kenneth Leim in an RSR for part of the season. They failed to finish at Brands Hatch and were fourteenth at Hockenheim, after coming 16th and 18th in the heats. However, at Vallelunga they were fourth, and won the GT class.

An unsuccessful return to the Lola T282 followed at Monza, leading to a DNF for Lella and Giorgio Pianta. The story was similar at the second Vallelunga race. Initially, switching to a works Osella PA5 at the Coppa Florio did not help either, but later, this car gave Lella and Giovanni Anzeloni a third at Imola. A private version of the car was entered at Salzburg, but did not appear.

That year, Lella also tried her hand at NASCAR. She entered the Firecracker 400 at Daytona with Christine Beckers. Lella was 31st and Christine was 37th. Janet Guthrie also took part in the race.

Using a jointly-owned Porsche 934, she returned to the World Sportscar Championship with Kenneth Leim in 1978. They did not make the start at Mugello, but were fifteenth at Silverstone. The Nürburgring race ended early after a crash and the car did not appear at Vallelunga.

In 1979, Lella acquired an Osella PA6 which was to bring her some of her greatest successes. Le Mans brought retirement, but the 1000km event at Mugello won her and Giorgio Francia a fourth place. they entered the Nürburgring round but did not drive. However, at Enna-Pergusa she did better than ever, becoming the first woman ever to win a World Championship race. This time, she was partnered by Enrico Grimaldi. At Vallelunga, later in the year, she won again, dominating the race and finishing four laps up on her nearest rival. Giorgio Francia was once more her team-mate. In between, she drove a 934 to 16th place at Brands Hatch, with Kenneth Leim.

By 1980, Lella was running and driving for her own team, with an Osella PA8. Unfortunately, she did not finish any of the World Championship rounds she entered, after a mixture of accidents and mechanical problems. One of her co-pilots that year was Vittorio Brambilla, a former F1 colleague.

1981 saw Lella and Giorgio Francia win their last race together, the Mugello Six Hours. They were driving a works-supported Osella PA9. They were also second at Monza, fourth at Silverstone, second at Pergusa and fifth at Brands Hatch. It was a fitting swansong to a strong partnership of make and drivers.

The "Tigress from Turin", as she was affectionately known, then turned to touring car racing, in a series of Alfa Romeos, earning many good class positions. In 1982, she drove in the European Championship, mostly with Anna Cambiaghi, in a Jolly Club Alfetta GTV/6. Antonio Palma was her other team-mate. She had a best finish of fourth and ran consistently in the top ten for the first part of the season, before mechanical gremlins set in. She, Antonio and Marcello Gallo were twelfth in the Spa 24 Hours.

In 1983 she drove a similar car in the ETCC with Giancarlo Naddeo. She was somewhat off the pace this year and had a best finish of ninth, at Mugello. In 1984, she used the same car, teaming up once more with Giorgio Francia. They did not fare any better, with a best finish of tenth and a series of DNFs.

She did better in 1985, with Rinaldo Drivandi. They were sixth at Monza and were regulars in the top ten thereafter, barring mechanical failures. They did not compete in the last two rounds. The following year, she and Naddeo drove an Alfa Romeo 75, which was very unreliable to begin with. Driving alongside Rinaldo Drivandi and Roberto Castagna, Lella managed to bring it home in eighth at the Spa 24 Hours, by far her best result all year.

She raced a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth for Jolly Club in some rounds of the 1987 ETCC, but top ten finishes were out of her reach. She pulled out of the last round at Nogaro due to illness. She attempted to return for the first round of the 1988 season, but was not able.

Her story begins and ends with an Alfa. Ill health plagued her towards the end of the 1980s and eventually forced her to retire. She had become aware that she was ill in 1985, but blamed her breast pain on an injury sustained whilst sailing. When unable to race herself, she formed her own Alfa touring car team, but sadly she died of breast cancer shortly afterwards, in 1992. She was fifty.

(Alpine image copyright Jean-Jacques Mancel)