Jessica Hawkins

Jessica Hawkins is a British racing driver, stunt performer, and barrier-breaking force in motorsports who became the first woman in nearly five years to test a modern Formula 1 car. Known equally for her wheel-to-wheel racing prowess and Hollywood-level car control, she’s spent her career proving that talent—not gender—determines who belongs behind the wheel.

EARLY YEARS

Born Jessica Mary Hawkins on 16 February 1995 in Headley, East Hampshire, England, Jess discovered karting around age eight—the affordable gateway drug that hooks so many future racers[4]. What started as casual laps turned serious at ten when she got her own kart and entered the British Kart Championship[4]. By 2008, at just thirteen, she won the whole damn thing[4]. It was the kind of early success that should’ve launched a smooth trajectory into car racing, but reality had other plans. Karting was affordable; cars were not. After turning sixteen, limited funds meant Hawkins could only afford the odd race here and there, a frustrating stop-start existence that would’ve broken lesser drivers[4]. “I never had lots of money, but I had enough,” she later reflected, noting how the financial gap between karting and car racing became “an issue” that forced her to pick her shots carefully[4].

Despite the financial handbrake, Hawkins kept her foot down. Her first car race—in a Clio, details sparse—ended with a second-place finish and a lap record, the kind of debut that announces arrival rather than participation[4]. At sixteen, the transition from karts to cars felt like being thrown into deep water. Her first single-seater outing at Oulton Park left her thinking, “I was so out of my depth. Looking back, I must have been crazy”[5]. But crazy worked. In 2014, she made her professional motorsport debut in British Formula Ford at Silverstone, a one-off appearance that yielded two top-ten finishes[1][3]. It wasn’t a full season—she couldn’t afford that—but it was enough to prove she could hang with the boys who’d been racing cars while she was scraping together entry fees.

OTHER INTERESTS

Hawkins identifies as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, a fact she’s been open about in an industry still catching up to the 21st century[3]. Beyond that, the public record on her hobbies is surprisingly thin—no pottery obsessions, no skydiving side gigs, no Instagram-worthy travel blogging. What does appear is delightfully bonkers: in 2019, she set a world record by hitting 0-100 mph in 6.29 seconds on a Honda ride-on lawnmower[3]. Yes, a lawnmower. Because apparently when you spend your life pushing machinery to its limits, even garden equipment becomes a challenge worth accepting.

More significantly, Hawkins carved out a parallel career as a professional stunt driver, the kind of work that requires ice-cold nerves and surgical precision[3][4]. She appeared in the James Bond film No Time To Die and Fast and Furious Live, earning her keep by doing things most people only attempt in video games[3][4]. The stunt work origin story is peak Hawkins hustle: she spotted a Facebook post seeking a female driver with good car control and simply responded that she could drift, donut, and j-turn—despite having never done any of it[4]. “Yeah I can do that,” she basically said, then figured it out on the fly. That’s not confidence; that’s survival instinct honed by years of making opportunities out of thin air.

EARLY SUCCESS

After her 2014 Formula Ford cameo, Jessica Hawkins entered the patchwork phase every underfunded racer knows too well: racing whatever, whenever, wherever budget allowed. In 2015, she competed in half a season of the MSA Formula Championship with Falcon Motorsport, finishing 23rd overall but scoring two eleventh-place finishes—respectable given the abbreviated schedule and delayed start[1]. That same year, she headed to Bahrain for the MRF Challenge, finishing fifteenth in both races[1]. The variety continued in 2016 with the Volkswagen Racing Cup, followed by a breakthrough 2017 in the Mini Challenge that finally gave her consistent seat time[1].

The Mini Challenge was where Hawkins truly hit her stride. Racing in the Pro division, she racked up six class wins and finished runner-up to Matt Hammond in the championship[1]. It wasn’t a title, but it was momentum—proof that given equal equipment and a full season, she could win races and challenge for championships. She returned to the Volkswagen Racing Cup in 2018 while also ramping up stunt work, then took a swing at the W Series in 2019, the new all-female championship designed to provide a funded pathway up the motorsport ladder[1]. She finished eleventh overall with two points-scoring finishes[1]—not the breakthrough she’d hoped for, but another line on the CV in a career built one hard-won entry at a time.

Then came 2020 and the realization of a childhood dream: two races in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) at Snetterton with Power Maxed Racing on 24-25 October[1][4]. “My dream since I was a little girl,” she called it, acknowledging it had been a “dream come true” after years of near-misses[4]. She qualified twenty-second and scored one top-twenty finish—modest numbers, but for a driver who’d spent a career cobbling together opportunities, simply being on that BTCC grid was a victory[1]. She’d made it to Britain’s premier tin-top series through sheer bloody-mindedness, the kind of grit that defines a journeyman racer who refuses to quit.

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

• 2008: Won the British Kart Championship[4].
• 2014: Made professional motorsport debut in British Formula Ford at Silverstone with two top-ten finishes in a one-off appearance[1][3].
• 2017: Secured six class wins in the Mini Challenge and finished runner-up in the Pro division to Matt Hammond[1].
• 2019: Set world record by accelerating 0-100 mph in 6.29 seconds on a Honda ride-on lawnmower[3].
• 2019: Appeared as professional stunt driver in James Bond film No Time To Die and Fast and Furious Live[3][4].
• 2020: Fulfilled childhood dream by racing in the British Touring Car Championship at Snetterton with Power Maxed Racing, 24-25 October[1][4].
• 2023: Became the first woman in nearly five years to drive a modern Formula 1 car, testing the Aston Martin AMR21 at the Hungaroring in September and matching reference lap speeds despite rain-affected conditions[2][3].
• 2023–present: Appointed driver ambassador for Aston Martin Formula One Team and Head of F1 Academy, the female-only junior series, mentoring the next generation of women racers[1][3][5].
• 2024: Competed in the British GT Championship with Beechdean Motorsport[1].

INSPIRATIONS

If Hawkins has racing heroes, she’s kept them to herself—no interviews gushing about childhood posters or drivers she idolized. What is clear is that her dream to race in the BTCC stretches back to childhood, suggesting she grew up watching those doorhandle-to-doorhandle battles on British circuits[4]. Beyond that, the inspiration seems to have come less from specific people and more from pure stubbornness: a refusal to let limited funds or a male-dominated paddock dictate what she could achieve. Sometimes the best motivation is spite mixed with talent.

REPUTATION

Hawkins has earned respect not through silver-spoon funding or a flawless win record, but through relentless preparation and the kind of car control that translates across disciplines. When Aston Martin gave her the keys to the AMR21 F1 car at the Hungaroring in September 2023, they weren’t taking a PR-driven punt—she’d earned it[2]. Robert Sattler, Aston Martin F1’s Evolution Programme Director, praised how she “built her speed progressively,” managed the car’s complexity “flawlessly,” and delivered feedback that “correlated precisely with the data”[2]. F1 team principal Mike Krack noted being “impressed” by her preparation and extensive simulator work leading up to the test[2]. That’s the kind of language reserved for drivers who do their homework, not diversity hires ticking boxes.

Hawkins executed the test with what Sattler called a “professional attitude,” matching reference lap speeds in tricky, rain-affected conditions—no small feat in a modern F1 car that can bite hard if you’re not on top of it[2]. The stunt work added another dimension to her reputation: Hollywood doesn’t hire amateurs to chuck cars around expensive sets. Her ability to pick up new skills on demand—drift, donut, j-turn, all learned after she’d already landed the gig—speaks to raw talent and adaptability[4]. She’s seen as a driver who maximizes every opportunity, someone who can jump from GTs to stunt work to an F1 test and deliver in all three arenas. Media coverage positions her as a barrier-breaker and champion for women in motorsports, though Hawkins herself seems less interested in symbolism than in simply getting more seat time[2][3].

FUTURE GOALS/PLANS

As of 2025, Hawkins is racing in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup with Comtoyou Racing, adding another series to her ever-expanding résumé[1]. She remains a driver ambassador for the Aston Martin Formula One Team and continues heading their F1 Academy program, mentoring young female drivers navigating the same financial and cultural obstacles she faced[1][3][5]. “It’s a great way to get women into the sport while providing access to race drives,” she’s said of the Academy, noting it “sets drivers up for the future”[5]. The role suits her—she’s lived the struggle, knows the shortcuts and dead ends, and can offer advice rooted in real experience rather than theory.

But Hawkins isn’t content to be a mentor watching from the sidelines. After that 2023 F1 test—which she called “one of the most special days of my life”—she made her ambitions clear: “I’ll keep pushing for more and, in the process, I want to inspire other women and let them know they should follow their dream no matter what it is”[2][3]. More F1 opportunities remain the goal, though she’s pragmatic enough to know they don’t grow on trees. “It’s taken me every bit of blood, sweat and tears to get here,” she said after the Aston Martin test, a reminder that nothing in her career has come easy[2]. If past form is any guide, she’ll keep racing whatever she can, wherever she can, accumulating miles and proving she belongs until the next big break arrives. And if it doesn’t? She’ll make her own, just like she always has.

References:

Wikipedia – Jessica Hawkins
Top Gear – Jessica Hawkins becomes first woman in nearly five years to drive a modern F1 car
Women’s Health – Jessica Hawkins Interview
The Female Lead – Jessica Hawkins
The Beyond Noise – Interview: Jessica Hawkins
W Series Fandom Wiki – Jessica Hawkins