Lella Lombardi - An F1 Pioneer
Maria Grazia "Lella" Lombardi was,
and still is, an inspiration to many
women in motorsport. Lombardi is the most successful out of all five women who have competed in Formula 1. She is the only woman to date in Formula One history to score points when she finished 6th at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix and picked up half a point. Unfortunately, her iconic achievement has been curtailed by the tragic events of the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix which left five spectators dead and Rolf Stommelen seriously injured. Lombardi is also the second woman to qualify for a Grand Prix to date. She competed in 17 Grand Prix between 1974 and 1976. Lombardi was also was also the first woman to qualify for the Race of Champions. In 1974, she qualified in a Lola-Chevrolet and finished 14th, but wasn't classified. In 1975 she qualified again but retired on lap 20.
Lombardi was born in a small town called Frugarolo in Italy. Her father was a butcher and her family did didn't even own a car. Apparently, she started showing an interest in motorsport after she was driven to the hospital at high speed following a handball incident. Eventually, she got a job running errands for a racing driver before graduating to his co-driver. She then convinced him to let her have a solo drive and won her first race.
Lombardi competed in karting briefly before saving up money to pass her driver's test and bought a second hand Fiat. She raced any car she could get her hands on. For a while, Lella drove touring cars before deciding she wanted to compete in single seaters. She competed in many feeder series before making an unsuccessful attempt to qualify for the 1974 British Grand Prix. However, in 1975 Italian nobleman Vittorio Zanon funded Lella's debut season. She raced for the March team alongside Vittorio Brambilla and Hans-Joachim Stuck. At the first race in South Africa, Lombardi became the second woman, after Maria Teresa de Filippis at the 1958 Belgian Grand Prix, to qualify for a Grand Prix. Unfortunately, her cut short at 23 laps due to a fuel system problem.
The 1975 Formula One season was an eventful one for Lella Lombardi. She scored points at the Spanish Grand Prix held at the Montjuïc circuit, which was marked by controversy and tragedy. Before the race there was concern over safety. The GPDA (Grand Prix Drivers Association) went on strike. The strike was due to the unsafe conditions of the weak barriers. Most frontrunners didn't participate, one of the exceptions being Jacky Ickx who wasn't a member of the GPDA. Overnight and on Saturday morning, some of the teams sent out mechanics to carry out work on the dodgy barriers. On Saturday, qualifying commenced and the furious defending World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi did the minimum three laps but at a very slow pace to show his outrage. During the morning of race day, Ken Tyrrell went to try and fix the faulty barriers with his spanner. It was nearly time to race and the drivers were still reluctant to participate. Legal action would be taken by the organisers if no race didn't commence, so teams and drivers were effectively forced to race. Fittipaldi announced he wasn't going to race and flew home.
On lap 1, there was immediate chaos, Vittorio Brambilla and Mario Andretti made contact, causing Andretti's car to crash into the back of Niki Lauda's car, which made Lauda hit his teammate Clay Regazzoni. The drama wasn't over yet though, on lap 4, Jody Scheckter's engine blew causing oil to spill on the track. The oil caused James Hunt, Mark Donahue and Alan Jones to retire. Two laps passed and disaster struck. Rolf Stommelen's rear wing failed on lap 25, which sent his car into then flying over the barriers (the same barriers his own mechanics tried to fix). Five spectators were killed by the flying car and Stommelen escaped with a broken leg, a broken wrist and two broken ribs. The race continued for 4 more laps before it was red-flagged. The winner was Jochen Mass followed by Jacky Ickx in P2, Jean-Pierre Jarier in P3, Carlos Reutemann in P4, Vittorio Brambilla in P5 and Lella Lombardi in P6. As only three quarters of the race distance had been completed only half points were awarded.
Lombardi's second best result was at the 1975 German Grand Prix where she finished in P7. She had a one-off drive for Williams at the 1975 USA Grand Prix held at Watkins Glen. She was able to qualify but a problem with the ignition system prevented her from starting. In 1976 she raced at March alongside Brambilla and Stuck again. She placed 14th at the Brazilian Grand Prix, but the team replaced her with Ronnie Peterson, who had just left Tyrrell. Lombardi then raced for RAM racing, but it was short and not very sweet. Her best finish with the team was 14th at the Austrian Grand Prix. Her Formula One career ended in 1976, but her motorsport career didn't.
Lombardi went on to race sports cars and her best season was in 1979 when she won the 6 Hours of Pergusa and the 6 Hours of Vallelunga. She competed four times at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with her best result being P9 in a Porsche Carrera. Lella also took part in a NASCAR race at Daytona in 1977. She competed at Le Mans 4 alongside Marie-Claude Beaumont, Christine Dacremont and Christine Beckers. Her best finish was 9th in a Porsche Carrera in 1976. In 1989, Lella retired from a record-breaking and inspiring career. She founded her own racing team, Lombardi Autosport in 1989. Sadly, Lella passed away due to breast cancer in 1992. Lella achieved so much in her great career, but her achievements haven't changed the minds of many who believe that women are not capable of being in Formula One. Her achievements haven't gone completely without notice for us girls and women in motorsport, her achievements have inspired us to change minds. Thank you so much and Rest in Power, Lella.
Photo Credit: grandprix247.com, google.co.uk,
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