Stefano Domenicali says it is ‘very unlikely’ that there will be a female driver in F1 in the next five years

Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali believes there won’t be a female driver in F1 within the next five years.

Only two women have ever competed in Formula 1: Italian racers Maria Teresa de Filippis in the 1950s and Lella Lombardi competed in 12 races throughout the mid-1970s.

The female-only W Series was formed in 2019 and now regularly goes racing on Grand Prix weekends, with British driver Jamie Chadwick currently the runaway leader of this season’s Championship.

But Domenicali, formerly team principal at Ferrari, says a woman making the step up to F1 by 2027 was “very unlikely.”

“[It’s] crucial to give the maximum possibility for women to come to F1 - we are totally dedicated to that,” he said.

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“Realistically speaking, unless there is something like a meteorite, I don’t see a girl coming into F1 in the next five years. That is very unlikely.

“We are very happy with the collaboration with Formula W.

“But we believe that to be able to give the chance to girls to be at the same level of competition with the guys, they need to be at the same age when they start to fight on the track at the level of Formula 3 and Formula 2.

“We are working on that to see what we can do to improve the system. And you will see soon some action. We want to build up the right parameters with the right approach for them to start racing against the guys, at the right age, with the right car.”

Domenicali was speaking ahead of the return of Formula 1 this weekend after the summer break at Spa-Francorchamps, where he stated discussions were “still on” about the Belgian Grand Prix’s future.

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