Jessica Hawkins: What her debut means for women in motorsport

The 28-year-old driver made her F1 debut in Budapest driving the AMR21 a couple of weeks ago, making her the first female in FIVE years to drive an F1 car.

While this is a huge achievement for her and females in motorsport, a lot of negative comments were thrown Jessica's way.

Jessicas Debut

The British racing driver completed 26 laps of Budapest's Hungaroring while operating the Aston Martin AMR21 F1 car of the 2021 season.

"It's everything I ever dreamt it to be and more" - Hawkins reflecting on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast on the feeling of driving an F1 Car for the first time.

Hawkins's talents have been displayed for many years now with her being a British Karting Champion, a podium finisher in the W Series, a stunt driver for the James Bond film 'No Time To Die', as well as sharing driving responsibilities with Aston Martin backup driver Felipe Drugovich.

She is presently getting ready to assist the team's participation in F1's all-female series, the F1 academy, which will begin their involvement in the competition next season.

Each of the 10 teams will enter a driver who will drive a car in their livery.

Her run was slightly delayed due to heavy rain, but a wet track was not going to stop Jessica from this amazing moment in her career.

Robert Sattler, the team's director of evolution programming said Hawkins did extremely well during her run as well as praised her ability to drive the complex car on a tricky track with ease.

“Jessica progressively built up speed on a tricky track while managing flawlessly the complexity of the AMR21 car...Overall, Jessica executed an excellent test programme with a very professional attitude and we hope to see her in the car again soon.”- Robert Sattler.

Team principal Mike Krack also was full of praise for the British drivers' success on the track.

“Jessica approached the opportunity with great maturity; she was up to speed quickly and found a nice rhythm. This has been a hugely significant moment in Jessica’s journey with AMF1 Team and I am pleased we could give her this next step in her development journey by testing a modern Formula 1 car.”- Mike Krack.

After having impressed everyone with her performance Hawkins hopes this moment will help inspire other women and show that we shouldn't give up on our dreams even if every odd is against us.

"I’ll keep pushing for more and, in the process, I want to inspire other women and let them know they should follow their dream no matter what it is.”- Inspirational words from the woman herself, Jessica Hawkins.

The Overhaul of Sexist comments

It's embarrassing that in the year 2023, we still have an issue with women driving a car (and it's embarrassing for me as a woman to write about it).

Jessica has proven her worth as a driver and I'm glad she doesn't give attention to those who wrongly criticize her just because of her gender.

To have thousands of comments be written saying things such as " F1 will die if she enters the sport", "Make sure you've got spare gearboxes" and an array of derogatory names being sprouted is just uncalled for.

I've been asked many times why I focus on talking about females in motorsport and this is one of the reasons.

Such a big achievement to have the first woman in FIVE years make an F1 debut and drive a Formula One car, something we should celebrate especially as this path is not paved for women in a male-dominated industry.

But sadly many online and offline do not see this as a positive. That is why we need to continue to support women in all sectors of motorsport.

I can't wait to see more from Jessica Hawkins and the other women she's inspired! Do not let others stop you from your goals, especially small-minded people who can't fathom a woman driving a car...

I hope that in the coming years, these comments fizzle out, but I worry for the day we do have a Female F1 driver and the abuse they will receive from the public.

The woman who takes that role has to be stronger mentally than any other man on the grid.

What This Means For Women In Motorsport

Women have slowly been gaining recognition in the motorsport world these past couple of years, and personally, it's something that makes me so excited for the future, and something that's been a long time coming...

After the fall of the W Series, I was worried about where the next generation of female drivers would end up.

Most sponsors/teams don't want to support female drivers due to them not gaining a return on their investment.

Teams know female careers are shorter and do not have many options for their career to go.

So they choose males over just as talented/ more talented women. This career-defining factor has irritated me and others who follow those in the motorsport world.

For example, there has never been a female to have a full F1 drive. But to see Jessica drive a modern-day F1 Car shows that we are getting closer and opening the minds of teams/sponsors for this to change.

Confidently I can say Jessica is breaking this common denominator in all Women's motorsport careers.

Overall, I'm so excited to see where Hawkins's career goes, she is a driver who has the talent to continue her already fruitful career into greater things and that is something I can't wait to follow along with.

One thing I hope others take from this is just how important it is to support women in all sectors of motorsport, on and off the track.

From drivers to engineers, pit crew, strategists and more. Show them they are valued in an industry that doesn't support them back.