Tatiana Calderon will continue to work with Alfa Romeo in 2019 as a test driver, the team has confirmed.
Calderon made her on-track Formula 1 debut with Sauber last year in Mexico, as part of a filming day for the Swiss squad. A few weeks later, she completed two full days of testing at the Fiorano circuit in the C32, the car Sauber competed the 2013 F1 world championship with.
Calderon said: "I’m extremely happy to continue as test driver for Alfa Romeo Racing this year, they’ve done a fantastic job from one year to the other and it’s always a privilege to work alongside such experienced people.
"They gave me my first opportunity to drive a Formula One car and I love being part of the team. Hopefully we can achieve great things together in the near future. I want to thank Frédéric Vasseur and Alfa Romeo Racing for believing in me and continuing this journey together.”
Alfa Romeo team principal Frederic Vasseur added: “We are pleased to announce that we will continue our collaboration with Tatiana Calderón as test driver. The team is impressed by Tatiana’s commitment, persistence and skill.
"She delivered a good performance when she was given the opportunity to drive a Formula One car for the first time last season and has proven to be a valuable member of our team. Together, we will work on further developing Tatiana’s skills as a driver and the Alfa Romeo Racing project.”
This year, Calderon will race in the FIA Formula 2 championship with BWT Arden, after spending three years in the GP3 Series.
I think it would be a good thing for the sport to see more women in F1 but for whatever reason there just don't seem to be any women who can be successful in the driver's seat on merit. If there were, I'm sure they would be racing. While I applaud Alfa for having her on board, it seems mostly PR related and not performance related.
It is PR, and it sucks. I kinda feel there are too few women interested in competitive racing, and the few that are struggle to get into racing academies and to get funded properly, leaving us with Wolffs and Calderons. Susie at the very least seem nice enough, but she wasn't ever F1 material, she just knew the right people. Im sure there are ladies out there capable of racing in F1, problem is: how do we make sure they reach F1?
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calle.itw
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It is PR, and it sucks. I kinda feel there are too few women interested in competitive racing, and the few that are struggle to get into racing academies and to get funded properly, leaving us with Wolffs and Calderons. Susie at the very least seem nice enough, but she wasn't ever F1 material, sh... [Read more]