Lella didn’t stop there either. She raced in sports cars, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, even NASCAR, and later started her own team, Lombardi Autosport.

Sadly, Lella passed away from breast cancer in 1992, at just 50 years old. But her story still inspires me, and so many others, to keep pushing for change in motorsport.

She proved women belong at the top level. Now it’s up to all of us to make sure her legacy leads to real change and with initiatives like the F1 Academy helping young female drivers rise through the ranks, that change is finally starting.

Image licensing information: NL-HaNA, ANEFO / neg. stroken, 1945-1989, 2.24.01.05, item number 928-0038, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons