At 24 years old, Spanish racer Marta López is out of options in open-wheel racing. But not for lack of effort. She was the inaugural champion of the (girls-only) F1 Academy in 2023 and was a race winner in the (all-female) open-wheel W-Series. She’s jumped through every hoop, but there is no place for women in Formula 1, Formula 2, Formula 3 or any top-tier European open-wheel racing series.
She shared her thoughts on social media just before her final Formula Regional series race.
Marta García is at Autodromo Nazionale Monza.
Bittersweet race weekend 😅😊
I’m a bit emotional as tomorrow is probably my last race in a single seater. At least for the near future. I’m sad, I’m happy, I’m nostalgic. I’m actually with some tears writing this. I know all the long way it was to come where I am today and I’m so glad for every single time on track. My dream was always get to F1 and this dream will stay forever in me.
I want to make the best out it it there tomorrow with the team and my engineer because it will be our last dance together 🤲🏻💗
On the other hand we have Formula 3 racer Sophia Florsch, famous for an airbourne 171 MPH car crash at the 2018 Macau Grand Prix. Lucky to be alive, this outspoken young woman has no time for bullshit or mincing words.
A harsh critic of ‘powderpuff races‘ like the W Series and the F1 Academy, Sophia Florsch calls them marketing exercises that don’t help women in motorsport.
The F1 Academy was created to increase female participation in motorsport, following the ill-fated W Series, which collapsed at the end of 2022. Despite the F1 Academy cars being dolled-up to look like Formula 1 teams, they are just Formula 4 cars, and the ‘scholarship’ isn’t enough for the series champion to move to Formula 3,
Sophia Floersch · Follow
I’m so sorry for you, Marta. It looks like they used you 2023 for short time marketing with female drivers. Visibility doesn’t help to keep up with the stopwatch. That’s not a secret. Visibility just helps F1 but not female pilots. Have you found one sponsor, Marta? They then drive you onto the sideline.
What happened 2024 was so bad. They point the finger at you even though they know exactly what it takes. The male talents of the team bosses show how it’s done. Where are all the women’s programs that were announced in 2021/2022? It’s so sad. Pink-washing.
Pink-washing: the disingenuous support of women, as a way to profit from the perceived goodwill or PR, all while trying to distract from a separate agenda. Of note, Florsch’s comments were first reported by Autosport but the article has since been removed (Autosport has a business relationship with F1 Academy) but can be found online.
A sad state of affairs for women.
At least in North America the INDYCAR Series has had a number of women in competition. Hell, a decade ago 4 women competed in the Indy 500 simultaneously.
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By comparison, in 75 years since Formula 1’s inception there have only been 4 female racers EVER. And the last one was in 1976.
But F1 has not had a female driver since 1976