Tatiana Calderon

Tatiana Calderon is a Colombian racing driver who has built a career on being first—first woman to win national karting championships in both Colombia and the United States, first woman on the podium in British Formula 3, first woman in Formula 2, and first woman to race full-time in Japan’s Super Formula series. She’s spent her entire professional life proving that speed doesn’t have a gender, and she’s done it with the kind of discipline and determination that turned a nine-year-old karting enthusiast into a legitimate Formula 1 test driver.

EARLY YEARS

Tatiana was born into a family of car dealers in Colombia, which meant vehicles were less mysterious machines and more the family business. At nine years old, she climbed into her first kart and discovered something essential: she had a special talent for going fast. Not just fast—she had an ease with finding the limits that most drivers spend years developing. That first kart race revealed what would become the defining characteristic of her career: an instinctive ability to push right to the edge without going over.

Her family didn’t just tolerate her racing obsession; they backed it unconditionally, even before she finished school. Growing up in Colombia’s car culture gave her access, but it was her family’s unwavering support that gave her permission to dream bigger than her geography suggested she should. By the time she was old enough to make the university-or-racing decision, she’d already won the Stars of Karting Championship in the United States—a victory that helped her believe in her own potential right when it mattered most. She chose the racetrack over the classroom, dedicating herself fully to motorsport with the kind of clarity most teenagers can only pretend to have.

OTHER INTERESTS

Tatiana’s life has been consumed by racing to the point where her hobbies and her career are essentially the same thing. Her racing has taken her across Europe and America, exposing her to different cultures primarily through the lens of various racetracks and paddocks. Beyond that, the research reveals a woman who has poured discipline, hard work, dedication, and determination into a singular goal: reaching the pinnacle of motorsports. If she has creative pursuits, collections, or a secret passion for Argentine tango, she’s kept them remarkably private. What’s clear is that racing isn’t just what she does—it’s the lifestyle she adopted at nine and never looked back from.

EARLY SUCCESS

Calderon started racking up firsts almost immediately. In 2005, she became the first woman to win Colombia’s National Easy Kart Pre-Junior Championship. She followed that with the 2006 Rotax Junior Max title in Colombia, then crossed borders to claim the 2008 Stars of Karting Championship East Division JICA Class in the United States—becoming the first woman to win a national karting title there. By 2009, she’d added another National Karting Rotax Junior Max Class Championship in Colombia and qualified for the International Grand Final in Egypt. Between 2010 and 2011, she became a national champion in touring cars in Colombia while simultaneously earning two podiums in the Star Mazda Championship in the United States.

The pattern was clear: wherever Tatiana showed up, she rewrote the record books for women in that series. In 2012, she podiumed in the Euroformula Open Winter Series. The following year brought her breakthrough moment in international single-seaters when she finished third at the Nürburgring in the British Formula 3 International Series—the first woman to stand on the overall podium in that championship. She wasn’t just participating; she was winning races and finishing ahead of men who’d been told their entire lives that they belonged there more than she did.

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

• 2005: First woman to win Colombia’s National Easy Kart Pre-Junior Championship.
• 2006: Won Rotax Junior Max title in Colombia.
• 2008: First woman to win a national karting title in the United States (Stars of Karting Championship East Division JICA Class).
• 2009: National Karting Rotax Junior Max Class Champion in Colombia; qualified for International Grand Final in Egypt.
• 2010-2011: National champion in touring cars in Colombia; earned two podiums in Star Mazda Championship, USA.
• 2012: Podium finish in Euroformula Open Winter Series.
• 2013: Third place at Nürburgring in British Formula 3 International Series—first woman on the overall podium; competed in FIA F3 European Championship and Toyota Racing Series.
• 2014: Victory in Ferrari Driver Academy Florida Winter Series at Sebring.
• 2015: Runner-up in MRF Challenge.
• 2017: Podium finish in Formula V8 3.5 (World Series by Renault 3.5) in Bahrain—first woman to achieve this; appointed Development Driver for Sauber F1 team; first woman to lead a lap in FIA F3 European Championship.
• 2018-2021: Test Driver for Alfa Romeo Racing Formula 1 team.
• 2019: First woman to compete in the Formula 2 Championship.
• 2020: First woman to race full-time in Super Formula, Japan; competed in European Le Mans Series and WEC LMP2 class with all-female crew; ninth overall at Le Mans debut in LMP2.
• 2021: 17th in LMP2 Drivers’ Championship WEC with 23 points and four top-10 finishes in five races; continued Super Formula (finished 24th overall with no points in four races).
• 2024: Competed in IMSA GTD with Gradient Racing in Acura NSX GT3 Evo22; finished 41st overall with 883 points.
• 2025: Raced IMSA GTD season with Gradient Racing in Ford Mustang GT3; finished 40th overall with 613 points.

INSPIRATIONS

Calderon’s most significant inspiration appears to be the unconditional support of her family, who believed in her racing career before she’d even finished school. That early backing gave her the foundation to pursue a path that had virtually no Colombian women blazing trails ahead of her. Her philosophy centers on the belief that men and women can compete on equal terms in motorsport—not as a hopeful theory but as a lived reality she’s demonstrated across multiple continents and racing series. She’s driven by a straightforward ambition: she wants to win, she wants to be first, and she wants to reach the top. The specifics of who inspired her along the way remain private, but the results speak to someone motivated by proving what’s possible rather than by emulating what’s already been done.

REPUTATION

Tatiana Calderon is regarded as a trailblazer and a legitimate racing talent—two things that shouldn’t need to be mentioned separately but, in motorsport’s male-dominated landscape, often do. The racing community recognizes her “history of firsts” not as participation trophies but as genuine achievements earned against fully competitive fields. As one interview put it: “You don’t drive IndyCar if you are not a good driver.” Her special talent for finding speed and limits, evident from that first kart race at nine, has been validated through F1 test driver roles with Sauber and Alfa Romeo Racing, positions that require both skill and trust from teams risking expensive equipment.

She serves as an ambassador through the FIA Women in Motorsport commission, using her platform to advocate for equal opportunity rather than special treatment. Media coverage consistently positions her as a pioneer, and she’s become a beacon for future generations of female racers—proof that the barriers, while real, aren’t insurmountable. Her message has been consistent: never let others dictate how high you can get or how good you can be. The industry has responded by giving her opportunities across an unusually diverse range of series, from Formula 1 testing to Le Mans endurance racing to IMSA GT competition, suggesting that teams see her as a versatile, capable driver rather than a novelty.

FUTURE GOALS/PLANS

Calderon has made clear her ambition to reach the pinnacle of motorsports and compete for victories on equal terms. While she’s expressed love for both IndyCar and endurance racing like WEC and Le Mans, her specific plans beyond the 2025 IMSA GTD season with Gradient Racing haven’t been publicly detailed in the available research. What’s consistent is her determination to keep pushing forward, to keep being first where it counts, and to continue demonstrating that gender is irrelevant when you’re fast enough. She’s spent her entire career refusing to let others define her ceiling, and there’s no indication she’s planning to start now.

References:

Pirelli – Tatiana Calderon
Wikipedia – Tatiana Calderon
Gradient Racing – Tatiana Calderon
FIA Formula E – Never Let Others Dictate How High We Can Get
Tatiana Calderon Official Website
F1 Fandom – Tatiana Calderon
Motorsport Week – Tatiana Calderon: A Trailblazer for Women in Motorsport