Female Single-Seater Drivers Around the World: Germany & Switzerland

Ina Fabry in 2002

Austrian drivers can now be found here. Andrina Gugger now has her own profile, as do Angelique Germann, Carrie Schreiner, Marylin Niederhauser, Michelle Halder, Delia Stegemann, Lena Buhler and Sophia Floersch.

Franziska Aich - one of the youngest-ever female racing drivers, having started in Formel König in 2001, at the age of 16. That year, she was not overly competitive and missed some rounds. Her best finishes were four 21st places, at Salzburg, the Nürburgring and Oschersleben. She made one start in the Formel König Interserie Challenge at Lausitz, but did not finish. In 2002, she returned to Formel König, but did not make much more of an impact. She was 26th. After 2002, she does not seem to have raced.

Marlene Dietrich - not the late film legend, but a German driver. She began racing in saloons, finishing 26th in the 2005 Volkswagen Polo Trophy. She was 21st the following year, before switching to single-seaters, in the form of Formula BMW ADAC. Driving for Team Zinner, she was 21st at the end of the year. Driving for a different team, she entered the Northern European Formula Renault series in 2008. Her best finish was thirteenth, at Alastaro, and she was a modest 21st overall. After a long break from motorsport, she returned in 2011, contesting the Austrian Formula Renault series. She does not appear to have driven in all rounds, and had a best result of fifth. This was achieved in the last round, at Hockenheim.

Ina Fabry - 2002 Austrian Formula Masters champion. This was followed up by two part-seasons in German F3, with the Wöss team, with a best finish of ninth, at the Nürburgring, in 2003. Her 2004 attempt consisted of just two races, again at the Nürburgring. Ina has raced single-seaters in Germany since 1999, spending three years in German Formula BMW and briefly trying her hand at Formula Renault. Her best BMW result came in 2001, when she was 17th in the championship. Prior to her car racing exploits, she was a karter from the age of eight and won several races. Budget problems have kept her from active participation since 2004, although she hopes to return and still works in motorsport. She is a member of the FIA's Women in Motorsport Commission. 

Tina Hausmann - Swiss driver racing single-seaters in Europe. Her first experience of car racing was in the 2023 Formula Winter Series, a Formula 4 championship based in Spain. She surprised many with a fourth and third place in her first-ever events at Jerez, but the next round at Ricardo Torme was a disappointment for her, with a pair of DNFs. During the 2023 summer season, she contested both Italian F4 and its associated Euro4 championship but did not score any points. Her best finish was 16th at Paul Ricard. For 2024, she signed up for both the UAE F4 series and the all-female F1 Academy. Aston Martin selected her as its supported driver for F1A and she is part of the Prema team. Tina was previously active in karting and esports.

Lena Heun - former karter from Germany, who has done some single-seater racing in Europe. She made her car debut in 2007, driving in six rounds of the LO Formula Lista Junior championship, nominally a Swiss championship, but running around Europe. Her actual results are proving hard to find, although she may have had some class podiums, and she was 22nd overall. For a long time, she returned to karting, and had considerable success. In 2012, she made her first steps in to Formula Renault, coming second in an Interseries race in a Formula Renault car at Lausitz. She made guest appearances in the two Spa races of the North Europe championship, finishing one race in 26th. In 2013, she was meant to race in the North Europe championship, as part of an all-female team, but this did not happen. She has since returned to karting. 

Reena Jani - Swiss driver who did two seasons of Formula Lista Junior in 2006 and 2007. She was sixteenth in the 2006 championship and tenth the following year. Later, in 2014, she drove a Mini Cooper for Equipe Bernoise in the Swiss Mini Challenge. She is the sister of Porsche driver Neel Jani and works as a car designer.

Anja Krause - raced in Germany in 2000 and 2001. She was fifth in the DTC Light series in 2000, driving a Ford Escort RS2000 and finishing in the top five on several occasions. She finished in the top three, three times. In 2001, she switched to single-seaters. She struggled somewhat with Formel König and was 20th overall at the end of the year. After that, she does not appear to have raced at all.

Julia Kuhn – competed in the Formula 3 Euroseries in 2005 and 2006. Her best result was a 17th in 2006; for most of the part-season she was off the pace. Her 2005 season had panned out similarly. Before that, she raced Formula Volkswagens in Germany for one season, and took part in karting. After F3, she moved on to long-distance racing at the Nürburgring, scoring one class win and a third place in a BMW M3. In 2008, she was part of the Porsche Super Sports Cup Endurance series. Her regular co-driver was Carsten Tilke. Unfortunately, a heavy crash at Hockenheim put paid to her season in May. Julia was said to be disappointed, as she had got the 997 set up well and was hoping for good results.

Isabella Lauer – successful German karter who has done some Formula BMW racing. In 2011, she entered the Formula BMW Talent Cup Shootout, and this led to some more racing in the Formula BMW Talent Cup in 2012, at Oschersleben. She was not among the front-runners. Despite testing in Formula Renault and Formula ADAC Masters, she has not been active as a driver since then.

Katja-Isabel Müller - raced single-seaters in Germany in the 1990s. She reached as far as the Formula Opel Euroseries in 1997, after several seasons in Formula König, Formula Opel and Formula BMW. Her best overall result was eighth in the 1994 BMW ADAC Formel Junior Meisterschaft. 1996 was another good season; she was ninth in the German Formula Opel Challenge. She did some saloon racing in 1995 as well, driving a Citroen AX in German Touring Cars. Her season took in the 24-hour races at the Nürburgring and Spa. 

Jacqueline (Jackie) Weiss – German driver who mostly competes in karting in Europe, but did do two seasons of single-seater racing in 2007 and 2008. In 2007, she raced in Formula Gloria in Italy, and the Formula Cup of Mallorca. Both were run using similar cars. She did not do full seasons, but managed a class fifth in the Mallorca series, thanks to two podium finishes. In 2008, she raced in the Formula BMW Talent Cup, after almost securing a deal for 2007, and having a sponsor drop out. This was another part-season. After 2008, she appears to have struggled to gain enough sponsorship to compete.

(Image from http://www.wenz.sitesun1.de/html/bilder/frameset_bild.htm)