Jessica Hawkins predicts female F1 driver within “few years”
Aston Martin driver ambassador and former W Series racer Jessica Hawkins believes a woman will race in Formula 1 within a “few years”, backing the F1 Academy to develop talent capable of fighting for seats on the grand prix grid.
Hawkins, who became the first woman in nearly five years to test modern F1 machinery when she drove the Aston Martin AMR21 in Hungary in 2023, discussed the timeline for a female F1 driver during an appearance on the Road to Success podcast.
Asked if she expects to see a woman step into an F1 race seat during her lifetime, the Briton was unequivocal. “I think we’re a few years away from it. But I do believe it will happen,” she explained. “I would be a fraud if I sat here and said I didn’t think that would happen because I do believe it. If I were to say no, it would go against everything I stand for.”
Hawkins dismissed suggestions that physical strength will prevent women from competing in F1. Reflecting on her own F1 test, she noted her neck struggled after completing half a race distance, but attributed that to a lack of recent single-seater preparation rather than biology.
“I am absolutely convinced women are strong enough for Formula 1,” she continued. “I’m convinced, having driven one myself for half a race distance, I could have done a whole race distance. My neck was struggling. My neck was really struggling. But I think every single person’s first time in a Formula 1 car, their neck struggled. That wasn’t because I was a female.
“That was also because I hadn’t been racing in a Formula 2 championship leading up to it. I hadn’t been racing in a Formula 3 championship right before it. Even the Formula 1 drivers, their first time back in a year, their neck is probably sore at the end of the day. That wasn’t because I was a female. I could have done a race distance if it wasn’t for my neck.”
Podium: Doriane Pin, PREMA Racing, Maya Weug, MP Motorsport
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
The 31-year-old argued that the F1 Academy provides essential track time and early career visibility that were previously non-existent for women in motorsport.
“It is different now because if you look at F1 Academy, wow, I could have only dreamt of that at my age,” she said. “And some of them probably don’t realise what it was like even just a few years ago. I think the championship has the ability to really make some drivers.
“Some drivers will go into it, and they’ll sink. Some drivers will go into it, and they’ll swim. And the ones that swim, they’re the ones that are good enough to go up and fight for these Formula 1 seats and fight for opportunities within motorsport.”
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