Before the hashtags. Before the F1 Academy PR reels. Before the sponsor patches were stitched next to motivational slogans — there were women who raced with no safety net, no structure, and no promises.
They didn’t come through “the system.”
There was no system.
Just fire. Just speed. Just an insane, unwavering belief that the car didn’t care what was under the helmet.
This is for them — the women who fought for space on the grid when there was no ladder to climb.
No mentorship programs. No camera crews.
Just open hostility and closed doors.
And still, they got in the car.
Maria Teresa de Filippis – The First to Break the Barrier
F1 Starts: 3
Year: 1958
She once asked for entry at Reims and was told, flatly: “The only helmet a woman should wear is a hairdresser’s.”
She raced anyway.
Maria Teresa de Filippis didn’t just enter Formula 1 in 1958 — she beat men doing it. She qualified for the Belgian Grand Prix in a Maserati 250F, at a time when women couldn’t even open bank accounts in parts of Europe.
Her career was short. Her legacy? Unignorable.
She didn’t crash through the glass ceiling. She towed a Maserati through it.
Lella Lombardi – The Only One (So Far) to Score F1 Points
F1 Starts: 12
Years: 1974–1976
She grew up selling meat in Italy. She ended up driving a March 751 against Niki Lauda and James Hunt.
At the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix, cut short by a fatal crash, Lella Lombardi finished sixth and earned half a point — the only woman to ever score in F1.
But forget the points. She was hard. Fierce. No-nonsense. She wore her hair short, her sunglasses dark, and her focus sharper than most of the grid.
She once said: “People weren’t ready for me.”
They still aren’t.
Desiré Wilson – The One Who Won an F1 Race (Kind Of)
F1 Grand Prix Starts: 0
F1 Cars Raced: Many
Claim to Fame: Victory in a non-championship F1 race, 1980
Desiré didn’t get the F1 seat — but she beat F1 cars. In 1980, she won at Brands Hatch in the British Aurora F1 Series — against the same machinery used in the World Championship. No other woman has ever won in an F1-spec car.
She had the pace. But the politics, the money, the timing?
Never lined up.
Her name is on a grandstand at Kyalami. It should be on the list of F1 winners, too.
Michèle Mouton – The Fastest Woman Who Said “F1 Can Wait”
Discipline: Rallying
Peak: Runner-up, WRC 1982
Michèle never raced in F1 — but let’s be honest: she didn’t need to.
She destroyed the Group B rally scene in the ’80s, winning four WRC events and nearly taking the world title. Against men. In death machines. At speed.
She once got asked if she was fast “for a woman.”
Her reply? “No. I’m fast.”
She may have taken a different path, but she proved the issue was never ability. Just access.
Simona De Silvestro, Danica Patrick, Tatiana Calderón, Beitske Visser…
These are the modern warriors. The ones who straddled the in-between years — not quite the dark ages, not yet the revolution.
They fought for test days. Fought for budget. Fought for headlines. And in many cases?
They got close. Very close.
Simona, carving through IndyCar grids with a smile that said “I see your doubts.”
Danica, holding her own in NASCAR chaos and Indy 500 heat.
Tatiana, breaking through in F2, even if the equipment didn’t do her justice.
Beitske, grinding her way into sim rigs, W Series, and anything else that would let her prove it.
They didn’t benefit from a system.
They had to hustle for every seat.
And now, they’ve become the blueprint, whether the sport admits it or not.
They Drove So Others Could Dream
The truth is, every girl in the F1 Academy paddock today owes a silent debt to these names — and the many who didn’t get remembered. The ones who almost made it. The ones who got told no. The ones who walked away with their heads high, because the paddock just wasn’t ready.
They didn’t race to make history.
They raced to go fast.
History just happened to follow them.
Final Lap
We can talk about equity. About inclusion. About ladders, pipelines, and “giving them a chance.”
But these women?
They didn’t wait for a chance.
They took the wheel before anyone said they could.
So before we talk about the future of women in motorsport,
let’s remember the ones who raced when it meant everything — and guaranteed nothing.
No sponsors.
No slogans.
Just courage, control, and speed.
