zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
F1’s First Woman Driver Dies At 89
F1’s First Woman Driver Dies At 89-March 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:11:35

The first woman to drive in Formula One, Maria Teresa de Filippis, passed away Saturday at the age of 89. According to , she made five attempts to qualify a privateer Maserati 250F in 1958 and 1959, and started three races in the car.

De Filippis got her start in motor racing in Fiat 500s, ultimately finishing second in the 1954 Italian Sportscar Championship, per . Her success there led to a works drive with Maserati, which later led to her driving a Maserati in F1.

The Maserati 250F was the same car Juan Manuel Fangio had used to win his fifth world title the year before, and Fangio gave De Filippis plenty of advice in driving it. De Filippis told The Observer of Fangio’s advice:

He used to say: “You go too fast, you take too many risks.” I wasn’t frightened of speed, you see, and that’s not always a good thing. He worried I might have an accident.

According to Motorsport.com, she failed to qualify for the first F1 race she attempted, the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix, but got her first start at the Belgian Grand Prix later that year. The Belgian Grand Prix was the only F1 race she ever finished, albeit in last place. At the Portuguese and Italian grands prix she also competed in, engine failure forced her to retire early.

Motorsport.com reports that she attempted to qualify again for the 1959 Monaco Grand Prix on the Behra-Porsche team, but ultimately failed to qualify for the 16-car grid. De Filippis ultimately gave up on motor racing at age 33, after team owner Jean Behra died in a support race for the 1959 German Grand Prix. As to why she got out of motor racing, she told The Observer:

Because too many friends had died. There was a succession of deaths - Luigi Musso, Peter Collins, Alfonso de Portago, Mike Hawthorn. Then Jean Behra was killed in Berlin. That, for me, was the most tragic because it was in a race that I should have been taking part in.

A woman would not reappear in Formula One for fifteen more years, when Lella Lombardi became the only other woman to start a grand prix race, per Motorsport.com. Given the now rising up through support and junior series, hopefully someone we’ll see number three soon.

Contact the author at .

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Racing
Drag Racer Nearly Torched To Death Gives Harrowing Lesson On Fire Safety
Drag Racer Nearly Torched To Death Gives Harrowing Lesson On Fire Safety
Lyle Barnett is an experienced drag racer, but nothing prepares you for the moment your engine turns into a pressurized flamethrower aimed directly at your face. He was lucky to survive, but his scars and his words serve as an important warning to everybody who drives hard. In this video...
Mar 30, 2026
Massive Subaru Rally Jump Goes Very Wrong
Massive Subaru Rally Jump Goes Very Wrong
Thankfully, driver Piotr Fetela and co-driver Dominik Jozwiak escaped this wreck at the famous cattle grid jump at the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood this weekend without any serious injuries. Here’s the video GIF’d above. Here’s another angle of their very, very fast Subaru running out of road after...
Mar 30, 2026
Formula One's Fernando Alonso Reads The Understatement Of The Century
Formula One's Fernando Alonso Reads The Understatement Of The Century
It’s a miracle of modern safety tech that Formula One’s Fernando Alonso survived this that left him with a mere hockey puck for a car—and crawled out of the wreckage under his own power so . I think we’re all glad to see he’s well enough to relax a bit...
Mar 30, 2026
Not Sure If He's Driving Away From The Fire Or The Fire Extinguisher
Not Sure If He's Driving Away From The Fire Or The Fire Extinguisher
NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Casey Mears had a mild car-b-que situation at today’s Auto Club 400. Here’s a view of the fire we didn’t see on TV. Watch as the unlucky No. 13 gets enveloped in a combination of smoke and fire extinguisher spray. Oof. You can see Mears move...
Mar 30, 2026
Perfect Reaction To Huge Rally Hit: 'Ow, My Vagina'
Perfect Reaction To Huge Rally Hit: 'Ow, My Vagina'
Behold, one of the funniest reactions to a rally crash ever. There’s a trick to the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood: don’t hit the wood. Oh, and enough about your “balls of steel.” They’re puny meat-sacks that are too easy to hurt. Now, if something’s brutal enough to produce...
Mar 30, 2026
Your Ridiculously Awesome Porsche 911 RSR Wallpaper Is Here
Your Ridiculously Awesome Porsche 911 RSR Wallpaper Is Here
In honor of the IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship’s return to the track after over a month off, now is as good of a time as ever for some Rolex 24 Hours appreciation. The series met a downpour at Sebring International Raceway this weekend, but let’s reminisce in the times of...
Mar 30, 2026
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved