Simona de Silvestro gets her first F1 test at Fiorano [w/video]

Filed under: Motorsports, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs



The Formula One history books are hardly filled with female racing drivers. Maria Teresa de Felippis competed in a few grands prix in the late 1950s. Lella Lombardi remains the only woman to have scored championship points (albeit just a half of one when she finished sixth in the tragically aborted 1975 Spanish Grand Prix). Davina Galica, Desiré Wilson and Giovanna Amati all tried but failed to qualify for F1 races. Far from stellar results, then, but lately several teams have signed female test drivers - a major step towards getting a race seat.

Sarah Fischer tested with McLaren in 2002, Katherine Legge for Minardi in 2005, Susie Wolff signed on with Williams two years ago and María de Villota was with Marussia until her tragic crash and subsequent death. Now it's Simona de Silvestro's turn. An accomplished Indy driver, de Silvestro won five races in the Atlantic feeder series and landed on the podium at the IndyCar race in Houston last year. Born in Switzerland, de Silvestro signed on with Sauber this year as an "affiliated driver" on the track to a potential race seat next season. And she just took her first major step towards getting there.

These past couple of days, de Silvestro has been at Fiorano - the test track at the Ferrari headquarters in Maranello - testing out the 2012-spec Sauber-Ferrari C31. The car was fitted with special tires from Pirelli and no KERS, which may be a little ironic considering the Clean Air livery in which the car was repainted for her sponsors, but gives de Silvestro a chance to test-drive a modern F1 car on a challenging track.

"Overall, I'm happy with my first day in a Formula One car. I concentrated mainly on understanding the tires and finding out how to get the best out of them. And with every outing I learned more about the behavior of the car," Simona said after completing 112 laps of the three-kilometer circuit on Saturday. "I can't wait to get into the car again tomorrow. The feeling you get driving a Formula One car is just awesome!" Watch the video below to see F1's next female racing driver attack the curbs.Continue reading Simona de Silvestro gets her first F1 test at Fiorano [w/video]

Simona de Silvestro gets her first F1 test at Fiorano [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 28 Apr 2014 09:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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