17-Year Old British Girl Aims for F1 Seat

We know we've talked more about female Formula One drivers in the past year that in the entire past decade – with Danica Patrick making the headlines plenty of times last summer – but the most recent reports of a potential talented young girl making the F1 grid in the near future comes from the UK.

The Times reported that Formula Renault Championship's Alice Powell aims to become the first British female driver to race an F1 car at competitive level in more than 30 years. The last woman that stepped into an F1 machine representing the UK flag was Divina Mary Galica, back in 1978. She made an overall 3 starts in the series, driving for Surtees and Hesketh between 1976 and 1978.

17-year old Powell, however, recently caught the eye of Manor Competition, the very team who guided the footsteps of former F1 champions Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton into the Great Circus, from the early stages of their racing careers.

“I'm a human being exactly the same as the boys - I have two arms, two legs 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. There are no female role models and parents see it as a dangerous sport for their daughters,” Powell was quoted as saying to the aforementioned source.

Alice became the first female driver to ever drive in the British Formula Renault Championship, finishing her debut season in 18th place overall. For that, the British teenager received the British Women’s Racing Drivers Club GoldeStars Award, presented to her by UK's legendary F1 driver Sir Stirling Moss.

“Few women have made it in motorsport and no one has made a real impact in F1 – that is my ambition. I think the time is right, if a girl is out there doing well then more women would watch Formula 1 – it would definitely make it more exciting,” said Powell at the ceremony last month.