LELLA LOMBARDI’s Anniversary: Five Decades Since Last Female F1 Starter

August 10, 2026

• MARIA GRAZIA ‘LELLA’ LOMBARDI remains F1’s most successful woman, scoring a half-point at Barcelona 1976. Her 12 starts mark the milestone being commemorated—50 years since any woman raced in the championship.
• MARIA TERESA DE FILIPPIS pioneered as F1’s first female starter in 1958-59. GIOVANNA AMATI made the last race-weekend qualifying attempts in 1992 before Brabham replaced her with future champion Damon Hill.
• DESIRE WILSON scored the only F1-level victory by a woman, winning a 1980 Aurora series non-championship round at Brands Hatch despite failing championship qualifying there weeks later.
• Modern test roles evolved with SUSIE WOLFF driving Williams FP1 at Silverstone 2014, while JAMIE CHADWICK, JESSICA HAWKINS, and DORIANE PIN maintain current development positions. TATIANA CALDERON, SIMONA DE SILVESTRO, and CARMEN JORDA held affiliated roles 2014-2018.

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