The race to find F1’s first-ever woman champion continues

A dozen girls whizzed around an English karting track, part of a pioneering drive to draw women into motorsports and maybe even race to the top in male-dominated Formula 1.

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A special test day in October in Nottingham aimed to address a major gender gap in F1, one of the flashiest of sports.

Italian Lella Lombardi was the last woman to compete in an F1 Grand Prix in 1976, and the absence of women on the circuit is linked to young girls' limited exposure to motorsports, according to gender parity organisations.

More Than Equal, a nonprofit that supports women drivers, said girls start karting two years later than boys on average. Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton, for example, got into the format aged just eight.

"These are the first steps that a girl could take," Cameron Biggs, coaching and academy pathway manager at Motorsport UK, told AFP.

"We're really trying to join the dots between grassroots and elite."

The enthusiasm was palpable among the youngsters, who were mostly new to karting.

Some attended the taster day, supported by makeup company Charlotte Tilbury, after watching F1 while others were encouraged by their parents.

None seemed put off by F1's breakneck speed, the thrumming engines and the prospect of driving a vehicle years before they are old enough to have a driver's licence.

"On the second time, I came first and I'm very proud," beamed 11-year-old Megan.