SOCHI, September 27. /TASS/. Colombia’s Tatiana Calderon, who is racing for Team BWT Arden in the Formula 2 World Championship, told TASS that female racers could be successful in the top division of global auto racing, the Formula One World Championships, and hopes to prove it in the future.
This Formula 2 season has been tough Calderon claims, and in 18 races, she failed to score any points. Her best result was finishing in 11th place.
"It’s been probably the toughest season of my career, to be honest, in many ways, but I think at the end you need to learn from all these experiences," Calderon said in an interview with TASS. "After one of the tough, fast championships worldwide you are really fighting for a place in Formula One."
"Of course I think I can do much better than what I have shown and hopefully I can finish the season with two good races here in Sochi and Abu Dhabi to prove that," the 26-year-old Colombian racer, who is currently in Russia’s Sochi for the Formula 2 race this weekend, said.
"It’s my second time here [in Sochi]," she continued. "It is a really nice circuit, really great facilities. I definitely enjoy the track a lot… so I am really happy to be here."
Calderon is also on Alfa Romeo’s F1 team as a test driver and when asked whether making it to the Formula One Championship was her eventual goal, she replied, "Yes, absolutely."
"My own goal is to get a Formula One drive full time," she continued. "I do believe that we can really do a good job in Formula One as women, probably more than we would do in Formula 2, Formula 3, because there are certain things in Formula One that are more suitable for us."
"So I hope that I can prove that, and that it can open the doors for us and the future generation," Calderon added.
Five women auto racing drivers officially participated in Formula One throughout its entire history and they are: Italy’s Maria Teresa de Filippis (1958-1959), Italy’s Lella Lombardi (1974-1976), Britain’s Divina Galica (1976, 1978), South Africa’s Desire Wilson (1980) and Italy’s Giovanna Amati (1992).
