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In addition to her job as a stunt driver (her resume includes the James Bond film “No Time to Die”), 29-year-old Hawkins is a pioneer in the female race car industry. She leads Aston Martin’s efforts in the all-female F1 Academy junior series and serves as the company’s F1 driver ambassador. Her goal is to increase the proportion of women participating in what is still a predominantly male sport.
She has also been an advocate for greater diversity and inclusivity in motorsport as a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
Hawkins, of Headley, Hampshire, England, drove the AMR21 around Hungary’s Hungaroring circuit in September 2023, making history as the first female driver of a contemporary Formula One vehicle in almost five years.
The test drive was a milestone moment but Hawkins, however proud, thinks there are even bigger days to come.
“It got a lot of traction,” she says. “The younger generation would have been able to see that, and maybe they didn’t even know that women were allowed to do it. I still get asked whether men and women can race together. It baffles me that people aren’t aware men and women are allowed to race together. But the more people see, the more it will become public knowledge.”
Hawkins showed England soccer captain Leah Williamson around Aston Martin’s garage during the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in July. Williamson is an Arsenal defender.
A 50-year ban on women playing football at professional fields or clubs associated with the English Football Association was imposed in 1921. The women’s professional game was unable to grow and thrive at the same rate as the men’s game.
“The unsung heroes are the ones that put the work in all those years ago to allow women to even be able to play football,” says Hawkins, who played soccer for Reading growing up. “I feel like that’s where we are now with motorsport. And in a few years or however long it takes, it is going to erupt like women’s football has.”
Hawkins is one of those committed to giving more women access to F1 racing opportunities and employment. Since just five women have ever participated in official racing, having a female driver on the grid full-time is the ultimate goal. To date, no woman has competed in a grand prix.
“I absolutely believe it can happen,” says Hawkins, who raced in Formula 4 in 2015 but was unable to progress owing to a lack of funding. “But in order to become a Formula One driver, you need so many things behind you.
”You need to have a lot of talent… you need to be driven, you need to be fit, you need to be mentally strong – but you also need to have a lot of backing and budget behind you. And if you don’t have all of those ingredients, chances are you’re not going to make it. The odds are very, very slim.”
When Hawkins was eight years old, she was playing golf with her father at Sandown Park in Surrey when she observed a karting racetrack in the distance. Since then, she is become obsessed with motorsport.
”Any young driver would be lying if they said F1 wasn’t the dream,“ Hawkins reflects. “But at that young age, you don’t understand what goes into it, what needs to fall into place, and the budget required to get there.
“When I was winning a lot back in my early days, I truly believed there was a possibility I could make it to Formula One. But it is only when you grow up a bit and realize all the barriers in the way that everything has to fall in your favor. And unfortunately, it didn’t for me.
Hawkins took part in a “Women in Motorsports” panel at the British Grand Prix in July. (Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
“But that doesn’t mean to say that it won’t for somebody else, especially with everything going on now in women’s motorsport. It wasn’t like that when I first started. We’ve made huge steps in the right direction.
“Twenty years ago, when I first started, I could only name the amount of female drivers I knew on one hand. And now there are so many more. That’s down to the work everybody’s been doing over the last few years. The numbers still aren’t where they need to be, and I genuinely believe we’ve had women that are good enough to make it to Formula One.
”We’ve had women that have had enough budget to make it to Formula One. We’ve had women that are fit enough. But what we haven’t yet had is a female with every single piece of the puzzle that is needed to make it to F1, and we’re only going to find that by growing the awareness of it and the number of females interested in starting at a young age.“
How will it feel when a sixth woman does make that breakthrough?
“Oh my God, she’s going to deserve every piece of success and stardom that she gets because nobody makes it to Formula One without being incredibly talented and without so much hard work going into it,” says Hawkins. “I’ll be extremely proud and probably emotional as well. It holds a big place in my heart. It will be amazing.”
In addition to supporting women and girls in the sport, Hawkins is a prominent figure in LGBTQ+ inclusiveness.
”When I first came out, I was a little bit worried about the perception and how it was going to go down when really the perception in my head was way worse than the reality. I’ve never had any issues,“ she says.
”It was a worry in my head at the time, but it turns out I had nothing to worry about. It shouldn’t have even been a worry, but until we get to that point, I guess we still need to keep doing what we’re doing.
“Similar to (allies for) females in motorsport, there are lots of LGBTQ+ allies. We’ve got people like Sebastian Vettel, who was a big advocate for us. I see it as more powerful coming from someone who doesn’t sit within the community. I hope one day we get to a stage where we don’t need to shout about it but where it is just normal.”
This month, former Formula One racer Ralf Schumacher came clean about being in a same-sex relationship. Of the four former Formula One drivers who have come out, Schumacher is the most well-known. He is the brother of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher. Among them are Mario de Araujo Cabral (who competed in five grand prix), Lella Lombardi (who competed in the 1970s and is still the only female F1 point earner), and Mike Beuttler (who competed in the championship between 1971 and 1973).
Hawkins believes that the work being done by organizations like Racing Pride, which was established in 2019 to support LGBTQ+ problems in racing, has improved inclusivity in the industry.
“People should feel comfortable to speak about it if they want to speak about it,” she says. “Or equally, they shouldn’t feel any pressure to speak about it should they not want to. It’s just becoming more normal and celebrated now, isn’t it? And I think that comes from the work being done. But we’re aware, especially at Aston Martin, that Pride is not something that just happens one month in the year — it’s something we support all year round.”
But what is Hawkins’ opinion on visiting nations where LBGTQ+ persons experience persecution or discrimination, such Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates?
“I view it in a very different way,” she says. “For instance, in Saudi Arabia (where same-sex sexual activity is illegal), women weren’t even allowed to drive on the road however many years ago. But I drove a Formula One car in the streets of Riyadh and there were young girls literally crying with happiness that they were able to see that because they weren’t even allowed to drive on the road several years ago. So I see it more as if we can go to these countries and leave a positive mark and positive influence, then that’s a good thing.
“I didn’t realize the impact it had when I was driving in Saudi earlier this year. I was doing donuts in the streets in the Formula One car, and when I got out the car and took my helmet off, people weren’t aware that it was a girl driving.
”There were young girls genuinely crying. There was one in particular that will always stick with me; she came over afterward and couldn’t stop crying. She was so happy. And I didn’t realize the impact of – and it’s not just me, it’s others as well – what we do has on these young girls. That was the point where I was like, ‘OK, this is mad.’
“Things are changing in the world, and we can’t expect to see things change overnight. But what we can do is leave little marks and create awareness around it. So I actually see it as a positive thing.”
Top photo: Clive Mason – Formula 1 via Getty Images
