Lella Lombardi BREAKING DOWN WALLS

Fifty years ago Lella Lombardi became the only ever female to score in the F1 World Championship. As Jon Saltinstall reveals, she faced her career with quiet determination and kept her personal life away from the press

- Jon Saltinstall

It's a popular quiz question - “Who is the only woman to have scored points in an Fl grand prix?” Some of the more pedantic respondents will indicate that it was actually only half a point, as the race in question was stopped early, but either way, by finishing sixth in the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix, Lella Lombardi became the holder of that unique statistic. However, what is equally clear is that the record does her a disservice, as it overshadows the rest of her 23-year career.

Italian national F850 champion in 1970; the Ford Escort Mexico Kleber Challenge title in 1973; sharing the highest-placed finish postwar by an-all female crew in the Le Mans 24 Hours (with Christine Beckers in 1977); three outright victories in the World Sports Car Championship, followed up by 13 class wins in the European Touring Car Championship and the 1985 Division 2 ETCC crown (with Rinaldo Drovandi) - that’s a pretty impressive record for any driver. These were among her other achievements, yet they are largely forgotten, eclipsed by the focus on F1 that tends to overlook other areas of the sport. There was a great deal more to Lella Lombardi than her points-scoring result in the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix - even if by doing so she achieved something that two-thirds of the men who started an F1 race never managed.