Ella Stevens, a young Briton, intends to become the first woman to drive in Formula 1 within the Ferrari team. The road will obviously be long. First step, the young karting champion will try, this fall, to stand out to join the Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA), reports CNN relayed by Capital . A total of 25 teenage girls aged 12 to 16 have been shortlisted for a place in the Young Drivers' Academy set up by the most prestigious of Formula 1 teams.
In the footsteps of Lewis Hamilton
“In the first phase, we have to do some physical condition and karting tests so that they can see our driving,” says Ella Stevens. The girl has already won a kart championship at around the same age as Lewis Hamilton, who has since become Formula 1 champion six times. In 2018, she won a new crown, then finished the shortened season of 2020 in as a co-champion.
"My favorite part of racing is the speed."
This is Ella Stevens, who, at just 13 years old, is fighting for a chance to drive for the most famous team in Formula One - Ferrari. https://t.co/7O3GF9dK7J pic.twitter.com/mF1HnovyIi
Beyond her undeniable talent, the young driver has strong support in the person of her compatriot, Briton Rob Smedley. The former Ferrari engineer for ten years follows the champion through his own structure, Electroheads Talent Academy. “It's absolutely amazing (…) that they are taking positive steps to increase gender diversity in sport,” Rob Smedley told CNN.
Big names
Among the current residents of the Ferrari Driver Academy, we find Mick Schumacher (the son of Michael Schumacher), the nephew of the driver Christian Fittipaldi or Arthur Leclerc, the brother of Charles, current leader of the Italian team. If all the residents of the FDA do not participate in the Formula 1 championship, we can still quote Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll, the two Racing Point drivers. The late Jules Bianchi, who died in 2015 following an accident on the Suzuka circuit in Japan, had also joined the academy.
For forty years, no woman has raced in Formula 1. Only six of them have taken part in a start. The last to be in an F1 is the Briton Susie Wolff. She had participated in a few free practice sessions during the Grand Prix for the Williams F1 Team in 2014 and 2015.
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