 Lombardi in 1976 | |
| Born | (1941-03-26)26 March 1941 Frugarolo,Piedmont, Italy |
|---|---|
| Died | 3 March 1992(1992-03-03) (aged 50) Milan, Italy |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Italian |
| Active years | 1974–1976 |
| Teams | March,RAM,Williams,Brabham |
| Entries | 17 (12 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Careerpoints | 0.5 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1974 British Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1976 Austrian Grand Prix |
Maria Grazia "Lella"Lombardi (26 March 1941 – 3 March 1992) was an Italianracing driver who participated in 17Formula One World Championship Grands Prix from1974 to1976. Lombardi was the second female driver to qualify for Formula One, afterMaria Teresa de Filippis, and is the only female driver who scored points in Formula One, having won half a point in the1975 Spanish Grand Prix. Lombardi was also the first woman to qualify and compete in theRace of Champions atBrands Hatch, and raced in sports cars. She won the19796 Hours of Pergusa,[1] the19796 Hours of Vallelunga[2] and the1981 6 Hours of Mugello,[3] and finished 2nd in her class at the1976 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Lombardi's story has impacted generations of racers. Her experience has shaped the involvement of women in racing and how people perceive women in the racing industry.
Lombardi was born inFrugarolo, a small town inPiedmont Italy on 26 March 1941.[4][5][6] She was the youngest child of three;[7] her father was a butcher, who gave Lella her first job as a delivery driver for the family's shop.[8] At first, Lombardi’s father initially found her passion for racing hard to accept, but he embraced it once she finished runner-up in a 1968 race.[9]
After a brief experience with karting as a child, Lombardi bought her first car in 1965, which she raced in the Formula Monza series. She moved on toFormula Three in 1968,[10] and in 1970 won the Italian Formula 850 series.[11] In 1974, Lombardi was signed to drive the Shellsport-Luxembourg Lola inFormula 5000 and finished fourth.[8]
In 1974 Lombardi tried, unsuccessfully, to qualify for Formula One with a privately enteredBrabham racing car supported by theAutomobile Club d'Italia.[12] The car was sponsored by Radio Luxembourg broadcasting on 208 meters mediumwave, which inspired the selection of 208 as Lombardi's Formula One racing number.[13] That winter, she met an Italian nobleman, Count Vittorio Zanon, who sponsored her entrance into Formula One.[8] In 1975, Lombardi was invited to joinVittorio Brambilla andHans-Joachim Stuck on theMarch engineering team, racing the full season with Zanon's Lavazza Coffee Company’s sponsorship.[8]
At the opening race of the campaign inSouth Africa, Lombardi became the first woman sinceMaria Teresa de Filippis in 1958 to successfully qualify for a Grand Prix. 1975 would prove to be an eventful season for the March Team, as Lombardi scored half a Championship point in theSpanish Grand Prix. This was because the race only lasted 23 laps until Lombardi was forced to retire with a fuel system problem, while the race suffered a major tragedy when the rear wing onRolf Stommelen'sEmbassy Hill broke, sending him into the barrier. While trying to avoid Stommelen's car as it bounced back and crossed the track,Carlos Pace crashed. Four spectators were killed by Stommelen's flying car. The race continued for another four laps, resulting in Lombardi’s sixth-place finish and, with the race being stopped before three-fifths of the scheduled race distance was reached, all points were halved.[14] Lombardi also successfully performed at other races, including theGerman Grand Prix at theNürburgring, where she finished seventh.[15] At theUnited States Grand Prix atWatkins Glen, Lombardi had a one-off drive[16] forWilliams.[17] However, she was prevented from starting the race[17] due to an ignition problem.[18]
In 1976, Lombardi was confirmed at March Engineering alongside Brambilla and Stuck.[19] She finished 14th at theBrazilian Grand Prix that year,[20] and subsequently, the team decided to replace her withRonnie Peterson.[21] Then, Lombardi briefly moved toRAM Racing, her best result being 12th at theAustrian Grand Prix.[21]
In 1974, Lombardi was the first female racing driver to qualify and compete at theRace of Champions inBrands Hatch. She raced aLola-Chevrolet Grand Touring Prototype-class car and finished 14th.[21] In the 1975 event, she was once again able to qualify and compete with aMarch-Ford car. She retired after 20 laps.[22]
Lombardi later raced insports cars. In 1979, she won the6 Hours of Pergusa and the6 Hours of Vallelunga;[11] in 1981 she won the6 Hours of Mugello [it].[23] She competed four times at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where she finished 20th overall (and second in the GTP class)[24] in 1976 in a Lancia Stratos Turbo.[11] She also finished with podium places in a number of other European endurance races: 3rd at Casale, 1974;[25] 3rd at the Imola 250 kilometers, 1977;[26] 2nd at Wunstorf, 1979;[27] 2nd at Ulm, 1979;[27] 2nd at the Monza 1,000 kilometers, 1981;[28] 2nd at the 6 Hours of Pergusa, 1981;[29] and 3rd at the Donington 500 kilometers, 1981.[30]
Lombardi also raced in theFirecracker 400 NASCAR race at theDaytona International Speedway in 1977. There were two other female drivers in the field: AmericanJanet Guthrie and BelgianChristine Beckers. Lombardi finished 31st.[31]
Lombardi retired from racing in 1988. In 1989, she founded her own racing team, Lombardi Autosport.[32]
Journalist Phil Pash reported that though Lombardi viewed racing as a masculine sport, she succeeded regardless because of her 'competitive spirit.'[33]
Lella Lombardi was one of the first female racers openly in a same-sex relationship.[34][35] Lombardi died ofbreast cancer inMilan on 3 March 1992.[9] She was 50 years old and was buried inFrugarolo. She was survived by her partner, Fiorenza. Lombardi is commemorated by a sculpture in her birthplace, Frugarolo.[36]
Lella Lombardi’s racing career has influenced the perceptions of subsequent generations of women in racing; she is credited with making Formula One accessible to women.[37][38] Lombardi is considered an Formula One trailblazer, after which women have increasingly joined Formula One in many capacities aside from race driving,[38] including astest drivers and development drivers, engineers and strategists.[39] Lombardi is considered one of the reference points for women in racing;[33] Lombardi and de Filippis are the only two women to have started in world championship Grands Prix races,[40] with Lombardi the only one to have achieved a point-scoring finish.[14]
There have been three subsequent female Formula One drivers:Divina Galica (during 1976, Lombardi's third and final season in Formula One),Desiré Wilson (1980) andGiovanna Amati (1992).[41]
In 2020, the film "Beyond Driven" was made by directors Riyaana Hartley and Vincent Tran, providing essentially a dramatised documentary-style biographical account of Lombardi's life.[42]
It features Patrizia Lombardi (Ella Lombardi's niece),Tatiana Calderon,Amna Al Qubaisi,Vicky Piria,Alice Powell, Giovanna Amati,Carmen Jorda, andBeitske Visser.[42]
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap.)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | ShellSPORT Luxembourg | LolaT330 | Chevrolet 5.0V8 | BRH 4 | MAL Ret | SIL 10 | OUL 5 | BRH 8 | ZOL Ret | THR 9 | ZAN 7 | MUG 6 | MNZ 4 | MAL 7 | MON 6 | THR 6 | BRH 10 | OUL 4 | SNE 5 | MAL 4 | BRH DNS | 5th | 88 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap.)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | WDC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Allied Polymer Group | BrabhamBT42 [it] | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0V8 | ARG | BRA | RSA | ESP | BEL | MON | SWE | NED | FRA | GBR DNQ | GER | AUT | CAN | ITA | USA | NC | 0 | |
| 1975 | March Engineering | March741 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0V8 | ARG | BRA | RSA Ret | 21st | 0.5 | |||||||||||||
| LavazzaMarch | March751 | ESP 6 | MON DNQ | BEL Ret | SWE Ret | NED 14 | FRA 18 | GBR Ret | GER 7 | AUT 17 | ITA Ret | ||||||||||
| Frank Williams Racing Cars | WilliamsFW04 | USA DNS | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1976 | LavazzaMarch | March761 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0V8 | BRA 14 | RSA | USW | ESP | BEL | MON | SWE | FRA | NC | 0 | ||||||||
| RAM Racing withLavazza | BrabhamBT44B | GBR DNQ | GER DNQ | AUT 12 | NED | ITA | CAN | USA | JPN |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap.)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | ShellSPORT Luxembourg | LolaT330 | Chevrolet 5.0V8 | PRE | ROC NC | INT 13 |
| 1975 | LavazzaMarch | March751 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0V8 | ROC Ret | INT 12 | SUI |
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 |  Elf Switzerland |  Marie-Claude Charmasson | Renault-Alpine A441 | S 2.0 | 20 | DNF | DNF |
| 1976 | Aseptogyl | Christine Dacremont | Lancia Stratos-Ferrari | GTP | 265 | 20th | 2nd |
| 1977 | Inaltera |  Christine Beckers | Inaltera LM-FordCosworth | S +2.0 | 279 | 11th | 4th |
| 1980 | Scuderia Torino Corse |  Mark Thatcher | Osella PA8-BMW | S 2.0 | 157 | DNF | DNF |
Source:[43] | |||||||
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Team P R Reilly | ShadowDN1 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0V8 | MAL | SNE | OUL NC | BRH 9 | THR | BRH | MAL | SNE | BRH | THR | OUL | BRH | BRH | 42nd | 2 |
(key) (note: results shown inbold indicate pole position; results initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Team Agostini | WilliamsFW06 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0V8 | ZOL | OUL | BRH | MAL 14 | SNE | THR | ZAN | DON | OUL | NOG | MAL | BRH | THR | SNE | SIL | NC | 0 |
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
| NASCARWinston Cup Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | NWCC | Pts | Ref | ||||||||
| 1977 | Charles Dean | 05 | Chevy | RSD | DAY | RCH | CAR | ATL | NWS | DAR | BRI | MAR | TAL | NSV | DOV | CLT | RSD | MCH | DAY 31 | NSV | POC | TAL | MCH | BRI | DAR | RCH | DOV | MAR | NWS | CLT | CAR | ATL | ONT | N/A | 0 | [44] | ||||||||
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV6 | ZOL | HOC | AVU | AVU | MFA | WUN | NÜR | NÜR | NOR | NÜR | DIE | HOC 10 | HOC 6 | ZOL | NÜR | NC | 0 |
