Full Breakdown
Half-Century Since Lella Lombardi’s Formula One Grand Prix
8/10/2026, 8:12:00 PM
Core Event
The motorsport world marked the 50-year anniversary of Italian driver Lella Lombardi’s start at the Austrian Grand Prix on August 15, 1976—the last time a woman competed in a Formula One (F1) world-championship race. The milestone has revived scrutiny of the sport’s gender gap and spurred development programmes aimed at producing the first female F1 champion.
Background & Context
Since the inaugural F1 season in 1950, only two women have started a championship race: Maria Teresa de Filippis (1958-59) and Lella Lombardi (1975-76). Lombardi remains the only woman to finish a Grand Prix in a points-scoring position, earning a half-point for sixth place in Spain 1976. Subsequent decades saw occasional test drivers—Sarah Fisher, Susie Wolff, Simona de Silvestro, Doriane Pin, Tatiana Calderón—but no female starter on an F1 grid.
Initiatives Accelerating Female Participation
More Than Equal Programme
It runs a driver-development pipeline, data-analysis platform FutureLap, and a study with the University of Portsmouth on female ergonomics in Formula Four. The first intake selected six drivers from 1,000 applicants; a second intake added eight from 1,500.
F1 Academy
Backed by the F1 organisation, the all-female F1 Academy replaced the former W Series and runs support races during selected Grand Prix weekends. British driver Abbi Pulling won the 2024 championship; Frenchwoman Doriane Pin, the 2023 champion, has tested a Mercedes F1 car. The series uses Formula Four-level machinery, a step that organisers acknowledge remains distant from the F1 super-licence requirements.
Jamie Chadwick’s Grassroots Drive
Triple-champion of the defunct W Series, Jamie Chadwick launched a karting-to-career initiative that creates community-based championships for girls aged four to twelve. She stresses early exposure and a welcoming environment as essential to expanding the talent pool.
Formula E Women’s Programme
Formula E chief executive Jeff Dodds argues his series offers a faster route to top-level competition because women test the same cars used by the championship’s regular drivers. The programme includes annual “women’s tests” and plans to invest further in the coming season, citing the new Gen4 car’s power-steering as an equalising factor.
Data & Statistics
- Alexia Danielsson, 17, competes in the Central European F4 series, currently 26th of 49 drivers.
- More Than Equal’s first cohort: 6 selected from 1,000 applicants; second cohort: 8 selected from 1,500.
- Formula E’s women’s test in October featured 14 participants, including 2024 F1 Academy champion Abbi Pulling.
- Chadwick estimates the gender split in junior motorsport at roughly 80 % male / 20 % female.
Official Statements & Responses
Jeff Dodds highlighted that Formula E’s women’s programme allows drivers to test the same championship car, contrasting this with the larger performance gap between F1 Academy cars and actual F1 machinery.
What’s Next
- More Than Equal will continue expanding its talent-identification platform and ergonomic research, though specific timelines were not disclosed.
The 50-year mark serves as both a reminder of past barriers and a catalyst for coordinated efforts across junior series, private initiatives, and alternative championships to finally see a woman on an F1 starting grid.
