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The History of Women in Formula 1 Racing

If you think about Formula 1 races, which have been imagined to be synonymous with men, many women are making history while startling the world with their capabilities as equal as men!
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By car&bike Team

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1 mins read

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Published on February 1, 2022

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Highlights

    Once William Golding said, "I think women are foolish to pretend they are equal to men, they are far superior and always have been. Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater” hence if you pick any sports, you will find a name of women somewhere or the other shining bright while breaking all sort of gender binaries. The historical backdrop of ladies in Formula One is a short one. It has been a man's game for a long time, with few women in significant jobs or in the driver's seat. Just six ladies have driven during fantastic Prix ends of the week, and of that tally, only two have partaken in the actual race, with Lella Lombardi of Italy the final remaining one. That was over 40 years ago! Here are still some names that you should remember in this context.  

    Maria Teresa

    For quite a while, the overall clarification presented for the absence of ladies in F1 was that muscular men were expected to wrestle the raucous and actual vehicles utilized in F1 before power steering turned into the standard norm. Maria Teresa de Filippis demonstrated this clarification was to some degree unmerited as she drove the F1 vehicles during the 50s when they were substantially less protected and harder to drive. While her F1 vocation would last five races where she would see the red banner once, she demonstrated that ladies could drive an F1 vehicle. She would dominate races in different classes and be a trailblazer for ladies in racing.

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    Lella Lombardi

    Just as her beautiful appearance, Leela managed to build a beautiful career graph as well.  These Italian women have indeed managed to build successful careers when it comes to formula one racing. She would enter 17 races and start in 12 of them, taking all things together. While this probably won't appear as a massive feat, she did this during one of the most hazardous periods of F1, and she once more demonstrated that ladies could drive an F1 vehicle with ease.

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    Susie Wolff

    There have been, notwithstanding, a couple of ladies that have still figured out how to get into the universe of F1 as test-and-hold drivers. Katherine Legge did as such in 2005 with Minardi. Then, at that point came María de Villota in 2012 for Marussia (we will discuss her in more detail). Villota would be trailed by Susie Wolff, the tester for Williams in 2014 and 2015. While her small bunch of excursions during training meetings would be the extent that she would have the option to get into F1, she has still built a rewarding career in the field. Wolff would likewise ultimately advance to an administrative job in Formula E as the group head of the Venturi group.

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    Maria de Villota

    The name will, of course, go down in history, as Maria de Villota lost sight in one of her eyes while test driving a car. Well! That didn't stop her from making history. However, she would experience devastating facial and head injuries. Even though she would at first make a fractional recuperation, after a year, she would surrender to a heart failure because of neurological complexities brought about by her wounds. UK's Health and Safety Executive would distribute a report in 2015 with the end that Villota wasn't prepared in how to stop an F1 vehicle and that she had been plagued by several issues in this regard.

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    The Conclusion

    Discussed above is the list of women who made and are still making history when it comes to formula one racing. A long way ahead still for women to get into the sport in larger numbers!

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