Lella Lombardi - Scarlett Archer

April 27th marks another anniversary of the passing of one of motorsport’s biggest pioneers, Lella Lombardi. Even though she died in 1992, her legacy still means so much, especially for girls like me who are keen to see another woman race in Formula1.

Lella’s story is pretty amazing. She started out driving her family’s delivery van, got into karting, and then worked her way up through Formula Monza, Formula 3, and Formula 5000. In 1975, she got her big break in F1, racing for March Engineering becoming just the second woman ever to qualify for a Grand Prix.

Her biggest moment came at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix. After a terrible crash that sadly ended the race early, Lella finished sixth. Because the race didn’t go the full distance, the points were halved but she still scored half a point, making her the only woman ever to score points in a Formula 1 World Championship race. Nearly 50 years later, no one’s matched it.

Lella didn’t stop there either. She raced in sports cars, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, even NASCAR, and later started her own team, Lombardi Autosport.

Sadly, Lella passed away from breast cancer in 1992, at just 50 years old. But her story still inspires me, and so many others, to keep pushing for change in motorsport.

She proved women belong at the top level. Now it’s up to all of us to make sure her legacy leads to real change and with initiatives like the F1 Academy helping young female drivers rise through the ranks, that change is finally starting.

Image licensing information: NL-HaNA, ANEFO / neg. stroken, 1945-1989, 2.24.01.05, item number 928-0038, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons