Jessica Hawkins announced as Aston Martin F1 Team driver ambassador

From W Series to the F1 radar: Aston Martin F1 Team announced that British racing driver Jessica Hawkins will join the team in a Brand Ambassador role.

Photo: racers-behindthehelmet.com

At the same time that W Series is hosting its first collective test at Anglesey Circuit, north of Wales, one its returning drivers announced earlier today a huge step for her already impressive career: British racer Jessica Hawkins will join the brand new Aston Martin F1 Team in a brand ambassador role.

The 26 years old driver was one of the 20 competitors in the inaugural all-female F3 series in 2019 and, after two 7th place finishes in the last two rounds of the championship at Assen and Brands Hatch, she earned the opportunity to qualify for the following year.

The 2019 W Series season finale at the British venue was unforgettable for so many reasons: among those exceptional moments were also the thrilling battles for the final top-12 in the standings, with Hawkins, Cook, Wood and Rdest within 2 points for the final two seats available: ultimately, it was the new Aston Martin F1 Team driver ambassador to prevail at the chequered flag.

Entering its second year, the W Series startup was heavily influenced by the Covid19 crisis, which would ultimately force the series to a one year stop from track activities and focused on a virtual championship - before making its long-awaited return in 2021 on the biggest stages imaginable: Formula One.

In fact, Hawkins and the other W Series colleagues will get the chance to race in eight rounds of the F1 season as a support category, starting from next month's Spielberg round. The partnership between Formula One and W Series will allow Jessica to delve deeper into her new role at Aston Martin, in front of the biggest motorsport audience worldwide.

"I'm incredibly excited to be joining Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team as its new Drive Ambassador, and I am really looking forward to working with Lance Stroll, Sebastian Vettel, Nico Hülkenberg and the rest of the team." - commented Jessica.

"In fact, although it will surely be a hell of a lot of hard work, it is a dream come true from me. Besides, I am definitely not afraid of hard work." - she added.

Previous to her W Series appearance, Hawkins proved her talent in British karting, before making the step up to Formula and Touring Cars. 2017 was a year to remember for Hawkins: she was among the protagonists of an impressive Mini Challenge UK campaign and took five victories - finishing the season in second place in the Pro-Class standings.

More recently, Jessica also took part in two races of the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy - the fully electric series in support of Formula E - and last year she made her debut in the massively popular British Touring Car Championship in a one-off for Power Maxed Racing.

Jessica Hawkins is also arguably one of the coolest personalities of the WSeries paddock, with her off-track activities and TV appearances adding to her popularity. She has been working for a long time as stunt driver in the Fast and Furious Live shows and took part in the James Bond's movie 'No Time to Die' - with remarkable stunt performances on the big screen.

Aston Martin F1 Team CEO and Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer expressed his satisfaction to have added a to the team such an inspiring female personality; together with the experience of four time world champion Sebastian Vettel and one of the young upcoming talent Lance Stroll, Jessica will have the chance to learn and improve her skills to potentially aim one day to a seat in Formula One herself.

"We are delighted to welcome Jessica Hawkins as Aston Martin Cognitzant Formula One Team's new driver ambassador." - said Szafnauer. "She has not had it easy in her racing career so far, always having to fight for drivers as all young drivers do, especially young women, and her determination to beat the odds is as obvious as it is admirable".

"We are sure that Jessica will work very well with everyone in our team, across a variety of disciplines, both at Grands Prix and in between them, and also with our many partners, including but not limited our title partner Cognizant, BWT, SentineOne, Peroni Libera, Crypto.com and many more" - concluded the Aston Martin F1 Team Principal.

After that prestigious announcement, Jessica Hawkins will return to focus on the preparation for the upcoming W Series season, in which she can realistically be among the most interesting outsiders.

"I will continue to race with W Series this year, and, despite my super-exciting new position with Aston Martin F1 Team, I will remain fully focused on driving my heart out in an effort to score as many points in the 2021 W Series Championship as I possibly can."

" I would particularly like to say a big thanks to W Series's three most senior people, Sean Wadsworth, Catherine Bond Muir and Dave Ryan. Without their amazing efforts to put W Series on the motorsport map in such brilliant way and in such a short time, female drivers like me would never have found our way onto the radar screens of the likes of Otmar Szafnauer, to whom I should also say a massive thank you."

Photo: racers-behindthehelmet.com