007 movie stunt driver Jessica Hawkins becomes first woman in years to test in an F1 car

Aston Martin driver ambassador and former W Series racer Jessica Hawkins has become the first woman in nearly five years to test a Formula One car, the Silverstone-based team announced on Tuesday (September 26).

Hawkins, a 28-year-old former British karting champion who has also worked as a James Bond movie stunt driver, did 26 laps in Aston’s 2021 car at the Hungaroring outside Budapest last Thursday (September 21).

Daughter of an air-conditioning fitter, Hawkins’ racing career stalled for lack of cash until the Formula Three-level W Series, an all-female platform which has since folded, came along in 2019 with all costs paid. She joined Aston Martin as a driver ambassador in 2021.

Formula One has not had a woman driver start a grand prix since Italian Lella Lombardi in 1976, but a number have tested the machinery. The last female driver to test before Hawkins was Colombia’s Tatiana Calderon with Sauber, now Alfa Romeo, at Mexico City’s Hermanos Rodriguez track in October 2018.