Teenage girl aims for F1 glory

Posted on 16/02/2010

Alice Powell in action © Sutton images

The Times reports on a 17-year-old girl hoping to become Britain’s first female Formula One driver for more than 30 years.

Alice Powell, who has been driving go-karts since she was eight, has attracted the attention of Manor Competition, the outfit who helped Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen. In 2009 she became the youngest ever driver in the Formula Renault Championships.

“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,” Powell told the newspaper. “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.”

Like all young drivers, her parents look on with a mixture of pride and concern. “I must admit my mum does worry,” Powell said. “I did roll a car once … it was fine though. If you have a fear of crashing then you are definitely in the wrong career because you are going to have a crash at some point.”