Source : ABC NEWS
Like millions of others around the globe, Liv Tyler started watching the documentary series Drive to Survive during COVID-19.
At first, she found Formula 1 to be heavily male-dominated, but went to social media to discuss the sport and soon found a community of women talking about it. A lot of them.
“We all just kind of became friends on this online community, and now we can go to races together,” Tyler told ABC Sport.
Liv Tyler got into Formula One through Drive to Survive during the COVID-19 pandemic. She’s now an avid fan. (Supplied: Liv Tyler)
The 29-year-old is now a sports content creator, with a focus on Formula 1 and AFL.
She’s part of a surge of new female fans to the sport, who are driving attendance into record numbers.
The Australian Grand Prix hit new crowd highs last year when 465,498 people hit Albert Park across the weekend — with 45 per cent being female fans.
This year, the event is aiming for a 50:50 gender split.
On day one this year, the Australian Grand Prix saw an estimated attendance of 86,210, up from 72,056 in 2025.
The uptick in female attendance is part of a broader trend, with 2025 data showing that women accounted for 42 per cent of F1 fans globally, compared to 37 per cent in 2018.
Australia had two teenagers in the F1 Academy last year. (Getty: Formula 1/Pauline Ballet)
Elle Chilton, who hosts the Formation F1 podcast with good friend Natalie Caras, says they have noticed female fans engaging with not just the races but the storylines around the sport, including the personalities.
They’ve also noticed a conscious effort by the Australian Grand Prix Corporation to engage with women in the space.
The pair, both 33, were invited to this year’s tournament launch night, Glamour on the Grid, where they interviewed the likes of Nicole Piastri (hometown hero Oscar Piastri’s mum), Chloe Stroll (sister to Canadian driver Lance Stroll), and Hannah St John (partner of New Zealand driver Liam Lawson).
Loading Instagram content
“That’s another massive part of what helps the female fandom, right? It’s when the F1 corporation has recognised that yes, this demographic is actually showing up week in, week out, and we also need to put a spotlight on that,” Chilton said.
The challenge now for the sport is: how does it convert all the new women and girls invested in the sport into a continued increase in female participation?
Women’s involvement in motorsport can be traced back to the sport’s inception.
Italian Lella Lombardi, pictured in 1973, is the only woman to score points in Formula 1. (Getty: Ronald Dumont/Express/Hulton Archive)
Notably, Hélène van Zuylen entered the Paris-Amsterdam-Paris under a pseudonym in 1889, followed by Camille du Gast, who competed in the 1901 Paris-Berlin race.
Yet, it has been 50 years since a woman drove in Formula 1.
Lella Lombardi became the first and only woman to score points in a Formula 1 Grand Prix, finishing sixth at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix. A year later was the last time a woman started an F1 race.
Today, women comprise over 15 per cent of licence holders in Australia, with female participation rising, supported by targeted initiatives like FIA Girls on Track and Formula 1 Academy.
The F1 Academy series gives young women experience in professional teams. (Getty: Alex Pantling – Formula 1)
There were two Australian teenagers who competed in the all-female F1 Academy series in 2025: Joanne Ciconte and Aiva Anagnostiadis.
Ciconte will race in the Kyojo Cup in Japan later this year.
Yet vice-president of Motorsport Australia Margot Foster says one of the questions being asked is: “How does the sport explain clearly what the roles are so that women can see that there are opportunities other than driving?
“I, for instance, would have really enjoyed the chance to be a steward had I known that such a thing even existed, given that I don’t come from a motorsport background,” said Foster, a seasoned sports administrator, lawyer and Olympic rowing medallist.
Many think teenager Joanne Ciconte could be the future racing superstar of Australia. (Getty: Formula 1/Dean Mouhtaropoulos)
This year, two women have a corner named in their honour at the Albert Park circuit: Laura Mueller, race engineer for TGR Haas, and Hannah Schmitz, head of strategy for Red Bull.
Sophie Wisely is a graduate of the Girls on Track program in 2022.
She said getting women into motorsport was about handing them a map to the paddock and motorsport industry as a whole, including engineering, mechanics, driver management, race stewards and officials.
“Girls came with such vigour and passion and bashed the door down coming into Formula 1 after Drive to Survive,” Wisely told ABC Sport.
“It was a sport that didn’t necessarily cater towards women before but now — it’s had to change its tune.
“And why wouldn’t they? The amount of money and economical value of working with women is handing them the top place in sport globally.”
Tyler agrees.
While at a track meet-up event at Albert Park yesterday, she said, “looking around right now, there’s majority women that I can see”.
“The amount of money that women have brought to the Aus GP and Formula 1 is … I mean, they’re selling out Friday, Saturday, Sunday, every year.
“They really take advantage of [having fans who are] women, because we hold a lot of power.”
