Meet five female faces of motorsport

5 incredible women who are breaking barriers in the motorsport industry

Motorsport is known for being a male-dominated industry with the most successful drivers being male, with the likes of Aryton Senna, Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton, and having male presenters/commentators, such as Martin Brundle, Paul Di Resta and David Coulthard.

However, women are finally making their mark on motorsport, both with driving and presenting.

With this weekend being the British Grand Prix at Silverstone and the Formula 1 debut of the sprint qualifying, here’s a showcase of a select few of these brilliant women and all their success to inspire and empower others to take a leap of faith to push the boundaries of a male-orientated industry.

Rosanna Tennant – Journalist and Presenter

Tennant began her presenting career in 2013 on YouTube, and is currently working her ninth season in Formula 1. Tennant is a presenter on The F1 Weekend Debrief on Sky Sports F1 covering all the key events of the latest race; she also anchors the F1 Live Pre-Race Show. Tennant covers both Formula 1 and Formula 2 and has worked on several podcasts. She has been the co-host on the F2 podcast, F2: The Road to Formula 1, where she interviews the future stars of Formula 1, and has most recently presented the F1 One Begins show, which revealed the car for the 2022 F1 season. She also led the first female commentary team for F1 in 2020 on F1’s pit-lane channel. Alongside presenting motorsport, Tennant is an ambassador for the group Girls on Track UK where she helps young girls develop public speaking skills and grow in confidence.

Natalie Pinkham – TV Presenter, Pit Lane Reporter and Podcaster

Beginning her F1 career, Pinkham was with the BBC as a Pit Lane Reporter for Radio 5 Live in 2011. In December 2011, Pinkham joined Sky Sports, covering the 2012 F1 season, and pit reporting during practice sessions, qualifying and the races. Pinkham then hosted The F1 Show in 2013, where she gave viewers an insight into the Formula 1 paddock and covered race weekends. As well as being a reporter and mother of two, Pinkham hosts the podcast ‘In The Pink’, in which she talks to various people from sports and entertainment, covering all kinds of topics, including racing ace Lando Norris, F1 pundit Karun Chandhok and singer Fleur East. Pinkham also runs the podcast F1 Nation with Damon Hill and Tom Clarkson.

Jennie Gow – Radio and TV Presenter and Journalist

Gow broke into the world of Formula 1 in 2010. She has reported with the BBC, and has been on Netflix’s Drive to Survive as an F1 expert, which has expanded the horizons of F1. With the introduction of Extreme E – an international motorsport series with off-road racing – Gow is stretching her career as co-lead of the series. Gow is also the founder of the webinar series, ‘Motorsport Media’, which focuses on a variety of topics, including content creation, photography and PR/Communications. She’s an excellent reporter, and is now an ambassador for the FIA Girls on Track programme alongside Tennant.

Jamie Chadwick – British Racing Driver

Chadwick started racing at 11 and is one of the most famous women in motorsport. She’s best known for being the first and youngest woman to win the British GT Championship in 2015. In 2017, Chadwick braved the world of Formula 3 and made headlines when she won a British F3 race, being the first-ever female to do so. Continuing her winning streak, Chadwick was also the first-ever female winner of the MRF title (open-wheeled motorsport) in the 2018-19 season. She is also a development driver for the Williams F1 team, and is the 2019 driver’s champion of the W Series – motor-racing series for women only, aiming to get women racing in Formula 1. Chadwick is currently competing in the 2021 W Series for Veloce Racing as well as being their female driver for their Extreme E team.

Reema Juffali – Saudi Arabian Racing Driver

Juffali is an inspiration to the women in Saudi Arabia. She is the first-ever Saudi woman to hold a racing licence, and the first-ever Saudi Arabian female racing driver. Juffali made her debut as a professional racing driver at the Toyota TRD 86 cup at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi; in 2019 she raced in the British Formula 4 championship, where she finished 13th overall. Now she competes in BRDC British Formula 3 championship for her debut season in F3. With her frequent point-scoring finishes in her racing career, it is likely we will see Juffali in Formula 1 sometime in the future.

All women in motorsport deserve to be recognised for their work and success, but if I listed them all, this blog would be rather long!

The five women above are a select few of the inspirational females in the industry, and hopefully if you’re an aspiring sports journalist, racing driver, or even an engineer and mechanic, these women motivate you to chase your dreams.

Until next time…

Cover image: www.autosport.com