Jessica Hawkins, former W Series and British karting champion, just became the first woman to test modern-day Formula 1 machinery in five years, driving for Aston Martin at the Hungaroring.
Prior to Hawkins’ opportunity, the last woman to test an F1 car was Tatiana Calderon for Alfa Romeo in Mexico, thus this achievement has ‘changed the race’ for women in motorsport.
Hawkins, already a driver ambassador for the team, tested the Aston Martin AMR21 at the Hungaroring, sharing the drive with reserve F1 driver, Felipe Drugovich. She drove 26 laps of Budapest’s track, following her simulation training for the team previously.
Talking about this opportunity, Hawkins thanked the Aston Martin team for giving her the opportunity and said it gave her valuable insight into driving at such a high level.
Team principal, Mike Krack, said that the team were impressed by Jessica in her simulator testing and that it was an easy decision to put her on the track in the AMR21.
Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast, Jessica suggested that the reason for the lack of women in motor racing is that there is a lack of resources given to potential drivers as a whole, which is only reduced when it comes to being a female.
Budgeting and funding issues are major determiners when it comes to the progression of racing, becoming increasingly difficult as the sport becomes more exclusive for drivers. This has been highlighted in recent years, regarding the difficulty to fund young racers dreaming of joining the Formula 1 grid.
Following the controversial removal of the W Series, with its replacement of F1 Academy being just as problematic, the acknowledgement of a female driver by such a successful team has changed the narrative for female drivers.
Female representation in such elitist sports is so important, and Jessica Hawkins has really highlighted this, starting a debate about the treatment and support of women in motorsport.
After Aston Martin released that Hawkins had been their test driver, a frenzy of online sexist comments were sent into their comments section, further highlighting the importance of female representation when it comes to a male-dominated arena, such as motorsport.
Hawkins stated to Sky News, “I’m proud to be driving female representation in motorsport forward... [to inspire] future female racers”.
As a female interested in motorsport, I can only hope that this opportunity will bring greater representation of females in the sector, and hope there is more to come for Jessica Hawkins and Aston Martin.