Ten years ago today, Maria Theresa de Filippis died; she was the first female driver in the history of Formula One.
De Filippis competed in five Grands Prix in the late 1950s, starting three and finishing tenth at Spa-Francorchamps, but her journey was much deeper than that.
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The Italian was born in the Naples area in 1926, the daughter of the wealthy Count Filippi. In the late 1940s, she made her debut in the Salerno-Cava dei Tirreni race in a Fiat 500, which she won despite being ridiculed by her brothers.
As her brother Luigi failed to break into the New Drivers’ World Championship – he hoped to compete in the 1950 Italian Grand Prix at Monza – Maria Teresa continued to rise through the ranks; her parents did not object to her efforts.
“Of course, my dad helped me; he inspired me to succeed in anything I chose to do,” she told me motorsport Magazine 2012. “My mother didn’t object too much – because I won. You know, she liked it.”
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DeFilippis still fights against sexism, despite telling The Guardian She encountered prejudice on just one occasion, in 2006: “The only time I was stopped from racing was at the French Grand Prix. The race director said: ‘The only helmets women should wear are the ones from the barbershop.’
Maria Theresa de Filippis, Maserati 250F
Maria Theresa de Filippis, Maserati 250F
“Other than that, I don’t think I’ve encountered any bias — just been surprised by my success.” Of course, the definition of bias has evolved over time, DeFilippis told us motorsport “When things get too intense or too vulgar [with male drivers] Then I would joke with them and make fun of them and they would go away”.
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De Filippis was runner-up in the 1954 Italian Sports Car Championship; in 1956 she comfortably finished second in a sports car race in her hometown of Naples, starting from last place. In 1958 she entered Formula One driving a Maserati 250F, the car in which Juan Manuel Fangio won the world championship in 1957.
DeFilippis did not want to take orders from men, which played a role in her decision. “That’s why I went to Maserati and why I never wanted to go to Ferrari,” she told me motorsport. “Why would I want to join Ferrari? Just because I’m Italian? No. I didn’t want to be bossed around by Mr. Ferrari at that time. I talked to him and I told him I didn’t want to drive for his team. At that time, he would just say one thing and everyone would jump up. That didn’t suit me.”
“Also, I feel like there’s no real culture, no real depth. At Maserati it’s more of a family thing, there are more real people and they’re easier to talk to. And I can drive my own car to the team, which is important to me.”
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Maria Theresa de Filippis, Maserati 250F
Maria Theresa de Filippis, Maserati 250F
De Filippis’ world title debut coincided with Fangio’s retirement, and the respected Argentinian gave her “a lot” of advice. “He used to say: ‘You go too fast, you take too many risks.’ See, I’m not afraid of speed, but that’s not always a good thing. He was worried that I might get into an accident,” she told The Guardian. She has never fallen in an F1 race, even in the non-championship events she competed in.
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“I’m never anxious, I don’t feel any fear,” she explains motorsport. “These guys in F1, they are my heroes – Fangio, Ascari, Villoresi – they were very good to me. I never had any problems with the big drivers, only the smaller drivers who didn’t like me beating them.
“I admire Fangio both as a person and as a driver because he is a simple man who worked very hard to achieve all his success. He didn’t get anything. On the track I call him my ‘racing father’ because he was so nice and normal to me and I admire him for that. He is a gentle man.”
De Filippis’ career at the highest level was short-lived. Jean Behra retired after her fatal accident on August 1, 1959, on Berlin’s high-speed, dangerous AVUS circuit.
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“Too many friends have died,” she told The Guardian. “There was a series of deaths – Luigi Musso, Peter Collins, Alfonso de Portago, Mike Hawthorn. And then Jean Bella was killed in Berlin. For me, it was the most tragic because it was a race I should have played.”
Maria Theresa de Filippis, Maserati
Maria Theresa de Filippis, Maserati
De Filippis later started a family, and although she had been away from motorsport for two decades, she joined the International Club of Former F1 Drivers in 1978 and became its vice-president in 1997.
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However, in the 67 years since her retirement, only four women have competed in a World Championship Grand Prix, and only one has entered a starting position – compatriot Lella Lombardi in 1975 and 1976.
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