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WATCH: "Female drivers can be in Formula 1" says Sauber driver Tatiana Calderon

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Tatiana Calderon Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team C37 portrait during the Race of Monaco Formula One Grand Prix
Tatiana Calderon Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team C37 portrait during the Race of Monaco Formula One Grand Prix

Sauber F1 Team test driver Tatiana Calderon took a respectable sixth place for Jenzer Motorsport in race two at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday 2 September.

She remained a spectator during the main event, however, where Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton beat Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari. 

Tatiana is hopeful that the team will make her the next in a long line of talented young drivers to be given an opportunity to fill a race seat. "They've given some young drivers an opportunity and I think you know, my goal, my aim is to get a Formula 1 seat, but of course I need to earn my place and that's what I need to focus on. Doing a great job and making their life in the office a bit more difficult and to choose me." 

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Historically, gender has always been a stumbling block when try to enter Formula 1, but Tatiana feels that it won’t be a problem this time and that it's only her speed that will matter when any such decision is made. "Yeah exactly, to get to the highest level of motorsport, especially Formula 1, your gender doesn't really matter, what matters is the stopwatch - how good your feedback is and what you can bring to the table." 

We think that the days of women being discouraged from having a certain career are over, but it seems it still needs to be made obvious that women can do motorsport too. 

Sauber F1 Team's current racing drivers Charles Leclerc and Marcus Ericsson were involved in heavy crashes during both the Belgian and Italian Grands Prix respectively, with the halo device a hot topic during both race weekends. 

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Tatiana has never raced with the halo, but fully supports the concept. "You've seen it, it has worked and it has saved some big accidents, so, I support everything that they want to do in terms of safety and I think it is helping." 

Tatiana started her career at just nine years old. She competed in the GP3 series that last two seasons and combines racing in the development series alongside her role as Sauber's test driver. 

The last woman to participate in an F1 race weekend was Susie Wolff with Williams, who took part in a practice session at the 2014 British Grand Prix. Before her, Italian Giovanna Amati competed with Brabham in 1992, but failed to qualify for a race in three attempts.

Here’s hoping that Tatiana will make it to the top and we’ll see her driving an F1 car very soon. 

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