Naomi Schiff is a Belgian-Rwandan racing driver who conquered everything from karting championships to endurance racing before becoming one of Formula 1’s sharpest television analysts—and she did it all while navigating a sport that wasn’t exactly rolling out the welcome mat for women.

EARLY YEARS

Born on May 18, 1994, in Belgium to a Belgian father, David, and Rwandan mother, Alice, Schiff grew up in South Africa—a country whose last F1 race happened before she was born. Motorsport wasn’t on her radar at all. She was too busy being competitive in other ways: judo, swimming, athletics. The usual schoolyard stuff. But at eleven years old, she climbed into a kart for the first time, and that was it. Love at first throttle.

She dove headfirst into karting in South Africa, racking up wins at the Zwartkops Kart Club Championship in 2007 and securing a spot in the South African Rotax Max Challenge final in 2008. By 2010, she’d moved into cars with a part-time seat in the Formula Volkswagen South Africa Championship with Terry Moss Racing. It wasn’t glamorous—she finished 17th overall—but it was a start.

OTHER INTERESTS

After finishing high school in 2012, Schiff enrolled at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, studying psychology and law. She admits she’d stress over breaking a nail at the track—a small reminder that being tough and feminine aren’t mutually exclusive. Her first road car was a Volkswagen Polo, which she loved, probably because it got her from class to the circuit without drama.

EARLY SUCCESS

The breakthrough came in 2014 when Schiff dominated the Clio Cup China Series, winning seven out of ten races and claiming the championship by a massive 135 points. It was the kind of performance that makes people shut up and pay attention. From there, she jumped into GT racing, competing in the GT4 European Series and the GT Sports Club in 2015 with Reiter Engineering in a Lamborghini. She wasn’t just participating—she was competitive, consistently in the mix for podium finishes.

In 2018, she won the KTM X-Bow Battle Sprint championship and finished second in the endurance championship. That same year, she finished second in class at the grueling Nürburgring 24 Hours, one of motorsport’s most demanding races. It was proof that she could handle not just speed, but stamina and strategy over the long haul.

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

• 2007: Zwartkops Kart Club Championship winner.
• 2008: South African Rotax Max Challenge finalist.
• 2014: Clio Cup China Series champion with seven wins from ten races.
• 2018: KTM X-Bow Battle Sprint champion.
• 2018: Second in class at the Nürburgring 24 Hours.
• 2019: Competed in the inaugural W Series season.
• 2020: Appointed Diversity and Inclusion Ambassador for W Series.
• 2022: Joined Sky Sports F1 as analyst and presenter.
• 2022: Co-presented the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team W13 car launch with Natalie Pinkham.
• 2023: Co-hosted Channel 4’s primetime show “Bangers: Cars of the People” with Tinie Tempah.

INSPIRATIONS

Lewis Hamilton wasn’t just an inspiration—he was the catalyst. Schiff has openly credited Hamilton as the reason she began racing, moved by his success as a Black driver in a historically white sport. When she later faced online abuse and racial trolling as a Sky Sports F1 presenter, Hamilton publicly defended her, saying he felt “compelled” to speak out because he knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of that kind of hate. Schiff has said that knowing drivers like Hamilton and Max Verstappen were allies helped her push through the noise.

REPUTATION

Schiff is known for her ability to reinvent herself without losing her edge. She’s tough, articulate, and unafraid to call things as she sees them—which has made her both a respected voice in F1 media and a target for trolls who think women don’t belong in the conversation. But she’s louder than they are, and she’s not going anywhere. Her transition from driver to broadcaster has been seamless, bringing a racer’s perspective to a broadcast booth that desperately needed more diverse voices.

In February 2022, she co-presented the Mercedes F1 car launch, and by March, she was co-hosting “Any Driven Monday” on Sky Sports F1. She’s also proven she can cross over into mainstream entertainment, co-hosting “Bangers: Cars of the People” on Channel 4 with rapper Tinie Tempah, taking a nostalgic dive into the cars of the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s.

Now living in Paris, she married long-time boyfriend Alexandre Dedieu in September 2024 in an intimate civil ceremony. The couple welcomed a son, Raphaël Schiff-Dedieu, cementing a new chapter in her already full life.

FUTURE GOALS/PLANS

No specific future goals or plans for 2025 and beyond were documented in the available research.

REFERENCES

[1] Naomi Schiff – Wikipedia
[2] Naomi Schiff | W Series Wiki – Fandom
[3] Fuel for Thought: Naomi Schiff on Her Path From the Track – Sports Illustrated
[4] Who is Naomi Schiff? The trailblazer and Sky Sports F1 pundit – GPFans
[5] F1: Lewis Hamilton “compelled” to defend Naomi Schiff – Motorsport.com
[6] What you can learn from a racing driver on risk, resilience – Business Leader
[7] Naomi Schiff’s bio: husband, net worth, racing career, parents – Tuko
[8] Sky F1 Presenter Naomi Schiff Ties the Knot – The Sports Rush
[9] Naomi not just a model in a race suit – IOL
[10] Naomi Schiff – inspiring women through the W Series – Hankook
[11] eBay & Bangers: Mad for Cars – Channel 4 Sales