The short answer is yes.  

30 years ago, women in motorsport would have been comical to people, women have spent years fighting to prove that we have the same right and power to work and love motorsport just as much as men do. We continue to fight for the right to prove we have a role in motorsport. 

I think over the past couple of years, even though sexism has heavily decreased in motorsport, especially Formula 1, it has also increased. With the implementation of new fans from the “Netflix Drive to Survive” documentary, there has been an increase in sexism on social media towards women for example a girl got told on “TikTok” that “girls only like F1 for men”. This is not acceptable, no one should be hated for how they got into a sport or why they like the sport. 

“I feel quite welcome as a female fan just because so many of my family and friends are involved in the community. But I do notice that when I walk around whether that be in local or F1- people tend to assume I am with someone rather than a fan in my own right which can get quite annoying especially when I want to make conversation about the race”- Hannah Dundee  

There are so many women in this world who inspire me, whether these women work in motorsport or are a part of the growing social media presence of motorsport content creators. I want to share with you a few different women who not only inspire me but also inspire any other young girl reading this.  

I want to show people that women can work in motorsport and do it just as well as men. To be able to offer you the full capacity of inspirational women I am going to tell you about some of the ones that have inspired me on my journey to achieve my dream.  

The first woman I want to talk about is Lissie Mackintosh she is not only an inspiration for me but for many other girls who have made a social media account and have looked up to her. For not only creating a social media account and creating content about Motorsport but also showing other girls it is okay to love motorsport and enjoy it just as much as men do. 

Lissie started by creating content on an app called “tik-Tok”, she has gained a massive following of over 500,000 people (about half the population of Montana), and this has led her to now be a presenter for track TV where she goes to races such as Formula 1 and IndyCar but also gets to interview a lot of the drivers, doing challenges, questions, and interviews for her podcast “going purple”. This shows me you can be a girl who loves motorsport, you can create a social media account and you can be the person you want to be. 

The next woman I want to talk about is Susie Wolff, you might know her from being married to formal 1 team principal Toto Wolff, but I know her as a driver herself and managing director of F1 academy.  

She has been involved in the racing world for over 20 years, she is most notably known for making history back in the 2014 British Grand Prix, by being the first woman to be a part of a Formula 1 race weekend for over 22 years. Even after she retired from racing in 2015, she has continuously continued to be a part of the motorsport world. In 2016 she created Dare to be Different, which was created to encourage and inspire more participation of women in motorsport. She has been a team principal, chief executive officer, and more. Recently, she was appointed the managing director of F1 Academy which is an all-female driver category. She is not only an inspiring woman, but she shows that through true determination dreams can come true. 

I hope any girl reading this takes this as a sign that you can do whatever you put your dreams on.