Day 194

[from The Ballad of Conor Stewart]

GIRL POWER

It's been twenty-three years since Formula 1 last had a female driver. In this interview, AUTOSPORT's Ryan Nurse talks to the woman hoping to buck that trend.

In the sixty-five years since the Formula One World Championship began, only five women have ever taken part in a Grand Prix, and only two - Maria Teresa de Filippis and Lella Lombardi - have ever started one. Lombardi remains the only woman to have scored a championship point, at the tragic 1975 Spanish Grand Prix. All jokes about female drivers aside, women don't exactly have the greatest track record in F1, especially when compared to other motor racing disciplines.

The trend has been reversing recently. In the last few years, Susie Wolff, Simona de Silvestro, and the late Maria de Villota have all tested for various teams on the paddock. However, Giovanna Amati remains the last woman to have entered an F1 race, for Brabham in 1992, and she didn't exactly cover herself in glory. Now, one woman is aiming to rewrite the history books.

Step forward Brooke Stewart, daughter of 90s F1 racer Conor Stewart. The latest in a long line of second-generation drivers with F1 aspirations, Brooke is aiming to become not only the first female F1 driver in twenty-three years, but the most successful female F1 driver. With Lombardi having scored just half a point, it's arguably not the highest of bars.

"Maybe not," says Brooke with a chuckle, "but I think the biggest barrier really is just getting into F1. There are so few seats, and so many drivers competing for them, that it's hard just to get the chance. It's definitely easier to score points now than it was when Lella was racing, we've got points down to tenth now, but first I've got to actually get onto the grid."

To that end, Brooke and several other drivers are currently training at an elite racing school set up by her father Conor, at a private test track near his Perth home. Brooke and fellow pupil Sergio Cervantes are currently competing in the Formula Renault championship, but the 18-year-old has her sights set on following in her father's illustrious footsteps.

"It's always been F1 for me," she says, when asked if she would ever consider a different series such as DTM. "Of course, I'll race elsewhere if I can't get a seat, but F1 has always been the ultimate goal.

When asked why she feels there have been so few woman in Formula One, Brooke is reluctant to put it down to just sexism. "There's certainly a few guys out there who think, 'Oh, women can't drive', or 'I don't wanna be beaten by a girl', but it's definitely not as bad as it may have been when, say, Lombardi or Desiré Wilson [winner of a non-championship F1 race in 1980] were driving. I think maybe also, team owners will look at the track record of women in F1, which isn't that stellar, and think, 'Well, she's not gonna be much different, is she?'

As I talk to her, Brooke displays a wisdom beyond her years, and a boundless passion for racing. Despite having inherited the looks of her mother, supermodel Christina Bianchi, Brooke has chosen to walk her father's career path, one that's arguably even more hostile to women than the modelling world. However, Brooke believes that she can perhaps pave the way for a new generation of female racers.

"I think the biggest problem is that, you know, there aren't really any female racing icons to draw young girls into racing. There's Danica [Patrick, IndyCar driver] over in America, and that's it, really. It's similar to how there weren't many German drivers until [Michael] Schumacher came along in the 90s, or how there weren't as many Spanish drivers until [Fernando] Alonso came along. There needs to be a successful woman in the top level, saying, 'Look, women can do this as well,' and I think that's when we'll start seeing more women coming into the sport."

Does Brooke think she can be that female icon? "I sure hope so!" she says. "I don't wanna come into the sport and leave without making a mark, and I certainly don't want people thinking that I'm only getting this far because of my surname. If I do get into Formula One, I'd like to make a name for myself while I'm there."

Changing topics for a moment, I decide to ask Brooke about her classmates: Cervantes, Heimo Saarinen, and Stefan Dijkstra. Does she think any of them will ever reach F1? "I don't know," she says with a shrug. "They're all very good, but they're still learning, still refining their skills, just as I am. Maybe someday they will, maybe they never will. They have the potential, though, I think."

Brooke will have to go some way to emulate the success of her father, who won the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix for Tyrrell, and finished on the podium twenty-three times during his nine-year spell in F1. But in terms of becoming the most successful woman in the sport's history, as she aims to become, she's definitely in with a good chance.

Day 111

A long time ago, there were three sisters, who lived in a village in the eastern woods. Their father was a proud warrior who had died in battle, leaving their poor mother to raise them. While the youngest sister was fairly attractive, her two elder sisters were exceptionally beautiful, and very proud of it. They constantly ridiculed their younger sister, telling her that she was ugly, that no man would ever want her, and that she would never find happiness. They boasted of the wealthy men from the cities that they were going to marry, men they claimed were out of the younger sister's reach. The poor girl would go running off to her bedroom in tears, and cry herself to sleep. Taking her sisters' words to heart, she began to loathe her appearance.

Finally the time came for the three sisters to be married and have families of their own, and so they went out into the world to find husbands. The eldest sister traveled to the capital city, where a rich baron fell in love with her and asked her to marry him. She agreed in an instant. The middle sister traveled to a nearby town, and married a wealthy merchant. The elder sisters were very proud of their catches, and bragged about them endlessly to the poor youngest sister.

The youngest sister remained in the village, too afraid to go into the wider world. She was convinced, due to her perceived ugliness, that no man would ever want her. However, a young farmhand from the village fell in love with her, and after courting her for some time, he finally convinced the reluctant girl to marry him. The elder sisters were delirious with laughter. How could a farmhand compare to a baron, or a rich merchant?

They were about to find out.

The eldest sister moved into the baron's castle, where to her horror, her new husband treated her like a slave. He forced her to cook all his meals, wash all his clothes, scrub the castle, and make love to him every night. This was not the life the woman had expected, and when she asked to be treated with the respect she felt she deserved, the baron just laughed in her face.

When it became clear that the woman could not produce an heir for the baron, he grew tired of her. One night, he decided to get rid of her. He smothered her with a pillow, and dumped her body in the moat. He married another woman who could bear children, and acted like the eldest sister had never existed.

The middle sister, by contrast, found that her new husband paid her no attention at all. He spent all his time travelling the land, buying and selling, as merchants do. The few times he did venture home were not enough for the woman, who began to crave male attention.

She caught the eye of another merchant, and the two began a passionate affair. However, word soon got out about it, and when her husband heard he was furious. He kicked her out of the home that he barely visited himself, and she was forced to live on the streets, branded a whore by the locals for her adultery. A month later her body was found drowned in the local river. The shame and humiliation had been more than the proud middle sister could bear, and had driven her to suicide.

The youngest sister, meanwhile, lived out her days in the village where she grew up, together with her husband the farmhand. She learned of her sister's fates, born of their own pride and selfishness, and finally realized that inner beauty was more important than outward looks. Her sisters had had ugly hearts, and had met ugly ends. But her heart was pure and beautiful, and she lived her days in peace and joy. In the end, the youngest sister - constantly told she would never experience true happiness - was the only one of the sisters that did.