A 17-year-old girl is hoping to become Britain’s first female Formula One driver for more than 30 years after securing a contract to race for the company that launched Lewis Hamilton’s career.
Alice Powell started driving go-karts aged 8, before attracting the attention of the racing team Manor Competition, which developed the careers of both Hamilton and the Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen.
Alice, who is studying for three A levels, will attempt to beat her 28 male rivals in the 150mph Formula Renault UK series before tackling Formula One.
She said that her ambition was to inspire a generation of female racing drivers. “I’m a human being, exactly the same as the boys, and there’s no reason why I can’t beat them. If a girl is out there doing well then more women would watch the sport,” she said.
“There are no female role models and parents see it as a dangerous sport for their daughters. I must admit my mum does worry. I did roll a car once — it was fine though. If you have a fear of crashing then you are definitely in the wrong career because you are going to have a crash at some point.”
Only five female drivers have competed at the top level of motorsport racing. Divina Galica became the first, and only, British female Formula One driver between 1976 and 1978 but failed to score a point in the drivers’ championship.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article7028380.ece
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