Lombardi drove the second Williams FW04-Cosworth at Watkins Glen for the 1975 USGP, but did not take the start due to ignition problems.
Photo: R. Cross
Women drivers in Formula One are rare indeed. Since the start of the F1 World Championship in 1950, only five of them have made it to the track in fire-breathing Grand Prix cars, and only one ever managed to finish in the top six and score in a World Championship Grand Prix.
She was a pretty Italian butcher’s daughter from Piedmont named Lella Lombardi. Even so, destiny wasn’t all that kind to her, because she took her 6th place in the 1975 Spanish GP on the Montjuich Park street circuit but, instead of winning a full point for herself, she only got a half a one. Still, the fact remains that she is the only woman ever to have scored in an F1 world title race in 67 years.
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