Written by Jenny Clynes, Edited by Vyas Ponnuri
Women have played an influential role throughout the history of motor racing. Many have taken to the wheels of motorsport machines, while numerous figures have worked tirelessly on the sidelines in various roles, shaping the racing world to the present day. Woman Spotlight Wednesday aims to take a look at the tales of these superwomen, who have surpassed various hurdles to reach where they are today.
Just before the final Grand Prix of the Formula One season, a third F1 Academy driver was announced for the 2024 season. Tina Hausmann is a 17-year old driver from Switzerland, who has been signed on for the second ever F1 Academy season.
She will compete for the PREMA racing team, and will represent Aston Martin’s Formula One team in the academy. Ahead of the second season of F1 Academy, it was announced that each Formula One team would have their livery on a car — this means that Tina Hausmann will officially race in the Aston Martin livery.
Alongside this announcement, Hausmann stated in an interview, how it was an “honour” to be able to race representing her “favourite” Formula One team. Jessica Hawkins was also announced as Hausmann’s mentor for the upcoming season, which provides a priceless opportunity for her to learn from one of motorsport’s leading and most influential women.
Tina’s love for racing began back when she was just seven years old, when she saw a kart for the first time in a car showroom. She was instantly enamoured with it, and was soon invited by a female racecar driver to do some laps on a kart track. It was from this point Hausmann fell in love with racing, and hasn’t looked back since.
She officially began karting in 2013, competing in the Swiss Rotax Mini and Junior Categories. She steadily progressed through the karting ranks and moved up to OK-Junior, OK and then KZ. Hausmann showed great skill from such an early age and showed a constant willingness to learn and to improve to become the best possible kart driver.
Despite having significant school commitments, Hausmann still made time to pursue her passion — motor racing, so much so that she still managed to find time to compete in select races across Switzerland, and at the DKM and ADAC Masters in Germany.
Finally, in late 2022, Hausmann took to her first single seater, completing a highly successful test drive in her first ever Formula 4 car. It was this experience that truly fuelled her motivation to move up the ranks and to race in single seaters.
Hausmann officially debuted in Formula 4 in February 2023, and impressed everyone by finishing third in her first race in Spain. This podium on her inaugural Formula 4 race was an immense achievement, more so that it took place just days after first testing the car.
Hausmann’s 2023 season has been one filled with excitement and achievements, the Swiss racer taking the female titles in both Italian Formula 4 and the Euro 4 Championship. She raced with AKM Motorsport in both series, enabling her to travel and race all around Europe, in countries such as Italy, France, Belgium and Spain.
It is truly inspiring to see her officially announced as the third driver for the F1 Academy’s second season, with just one full season of motor racing under her belt. It highlights just how motivated she is to improve, and her immense skill at moving up the ranks in motorsport.
This opportunity with F1 Academy will enable her to traverse as many as three continents, racing on some of the world’s most impressive tracks, and give her the opportunity to showcase her skills in front of some of the most influential people in motorsport.
After the announcement, Hausmann attended the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with her Formula One team, where in just over a year, she too will race the Yas Marina Circuit in the finale of the F1 2024 Academy Season.