Jessica Hawkins becomes the first woman in 5 years to test F1 car

Aston Martin ambassador and former W Series racer Jessica Hawkins has become the first woman in nearly five years to test a Formula 1 car, the Silverstone-based team has announced.

Hawkins, a 28-year-old former British karting champion who has also worked as a stuntman in a James Bond film, completed 26 laps in the 2021 Aston Martin at the Hungaroring outside Budapest last Thursday.

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“It took every bit of blood, sweat and tears to get here,” the Briton said of what she described as a dream come true. “Nothing compares to the acceleration and braking of an F1 car and after looking at the data I’m really proud of my performance. I will continue to push for more in this process because I want to inspire other women. They need to know , that they should follow their dream, no matter what it is,” Hawkins added.

“We were really impressed with Jessica’s preparation for the test. She worked incredibly hard with our simulator team and that made our decision to put her in the AMR21 an easy one,” said Aston Martin boss Mike Krack.