2023-09-26 09:56:12
For Jessica Hawkins, Christmas took place in September this year: The 28-year-old from Headley (South England) drove an Aston Martin AMR21 at the Hungaroring, with which Sebastian Vettel competed in the Formula 1 World Championship two years ago took the last podium place of his GP career in Baku, coming third in Baku.
Jessica Hawkins has been working as a development pilot and brand ambassador for Aston Martin since 2021. The former British karting champion is the first woman in a Formula 1 racing car since Colombian Tatiana Calderón in 2018 with Sauber (contract as test pilot 2018 to 2021).
Hawkins drove the Aston Martin AMR21 Mercedes with which reservist Felipe Drugovich will complete a development program on various Formula 1 tracks in 2023.
Jessica Hawkins: «A big thank you to the team for this opportunity. I knew months ago that I would be allowed to drive in Formula 1, and it wasn’t easy to keep it to myself.”
«Acceleration and deceleration in a GP racing car are breathtaking. I had long dreamed of being able to drive a car like this and I am proud of how I mastered this task.”
Robert Sattler, head of the development program at Aston Martin F1: “Jessica has exceeded our expectations. We were a little unlucky with the weather because following one installation lap it started to rain. When she got back on the track, the track was still wet.
«Jessica picked up the pace step by step and effortlessly mastered the complexity of a GP racing car. Your statements regarding the car were precise and consistent with the data.”
Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack: “Jessica had spent hours preparing for the mission in the simulator and approached her task with amazing maturity. She was up to speed quickly and showed a nice rhythm on the track. This is an important step in their development and we hope to be able to get them back in the car soon.”
Aston Martin has not announced which lap times Jessica Hawkins achieved compared to Formula 2 champion Felipe Drugovich.
Women in Formula 1
Hand on heart – do you remember the last time a woman took part in Formula 1 training? It was Susie Wolff in 2015 with Williams. Or when before that a woman tried to qualify for a Grand Prix? It was Giovanna Amati in 1992 with Brabham. The last woman at the start: Lella Lombardi at the Österreichring in 1976.
There are countless girls and young women who stand up to their male rivals in karting and beyond. The talent is there, it’s just not being specifically promoted – that was the belief of the FIA and Ferrari a few years ago. The FIA had long since founded the “Girls on track” initiative to support twelve to fifteen year old girls, then it entered into a partnership with Ferrari.
Today there are two women in the Ferrari driver academy: the Spanish Maya Weug (19) and Aurelia Nobels (16), who was born in Boston (USA) to Belgian parents and grew up in Brazil; A third will be added at the end of 2023.
As part of last year’s 2022 Formula 1 season finale, those responsible for Formula 1 announced the creation of the so-called “F1 Academy”. In 2023, only female racing drivers who are aiming for a professional career will compete in this series. The series is intended to help promote female racing talent in a targeted manner towards promotion to Formulas 4, 3 and 2. For 2024 it is even planned that every Formula 1 team will nominate a girl for this series.
For Aston Martin that will be Jessica Hawkins.
In the 2023 championship, following 18 rounds, Marta Garcia (23) from Spain is leading ahead of Léna Bühler (26) from Switzerland and Hamda Al Qubaisi (21) from the United Arab Emirates.
1958/1959: Maria Teresa de Filippis (I) – 3 GP (10th in Belgium 1958)
1974–1976: Lella Lombardi (I) – 12 GP (Rank 6 in Spain)
1976/1978: Divina Galica (GB) – 0 GP (did not qualify three times)
1980: Desiré Wilson (ZA) – 0 GP (not qualified once)
1992: Giovanna Amati (I) – 0 GP (did not qualify three times)
2002: Sarah Fisher (USA) – 0 GP (only demo ride in Indianapolis)
2005: Katherine Legge (GB) – 0 GP (Test with Minardi)
2011/2012: María de Villota (E) – 0 GP (tests and demo drives with Renault and Marussia)
2012-2015: Susie Wolff (GB) – 0 GP (tests and training with Williams)
2014: Simona De Silvestro (CH) – 0 GP (tests with Sauber)
2015: Carmen Jordá (E) – 0 GP (Lotus development pilot, no tests)
2018–2021: Tatiana Calderón (COL) – 0 GP (Tests mit Sauber)
2023: Jessica Hawkins (GB) – 0 GP (development driver at Aston Martin)
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#Aston #Martin #von #Sebastian #Vettel
