From horses to horsepower – Lloyd dreaming of F1

She switched horses for horsepower, and she is a former showjumper.

Ella Lloyd has already left her mark and ruffled some feathers since starting motorsport four years ago.

You can tell from the 20-year-old’s driving that the males don’t like to be overtaken by females. They are “a little more aggressive,” but when I return it to them, they stop.

I want to defeat the bullies. I want to defeat the women. “I want to come first. “

In addition to competing in the mixed-field F4 British Championship, the Pontypridd-born Lloyd also has a strong desire for success in the F1 Academy.

Young women in motorsport have a direct pathway into the higher levels of single-seater racing with the Formula 4-level women’s-only competition.

With just one more race left, Lloyd is currently third overall in the F1 Academy standings, which is his best effort of any British driver.

She is hoping to complete her first full season in style at Las Vegas in November with five podium finishes, including a race victory in Jeddah.

The Welsh driver is well-versed in quick direction corrections.

Lloyd, a former skier and showjumper, only began motorsport when she was 16 years old and didn’t use the all-time karting route that many of her peers used.

I had no experience with racing and the driving side, she said, so there would always be advantages to not doing karting when you first started out.

I’m in my fourth year now, so I believe I’m fairly equal to most drivers.

Only two female drivers have to balance the F1 Academy and the mixed-field F4 British Championship this year.

Despite the “mixed views” some peers have, sharing the track with male drivers at this level does not worry Lloyd at all.

“I think you just need to put your stamp on, get your elbows out, and say, “Yes, I’m here to do this, and I’m not going to get pushed around.”

You’ve kind of got to put them back in their place and put them in their box, and they’re all okay now because I’m just as tough as you are.

We’re all in cars that work the same way at the end of the day, not to mention the same amount of machinery. So, for me, it really doesn’t matter whether I’m competing against females or a mixed grid.

Lloyd hopes that she and the other F1 Academy racers can inspire a new generation of girls to pursue motorsport as a career, not just on the track.

It’s encouraging to see more female competitors competing in karting events and rising through the ranks, she said.

On Friday, October 31st, Lloyd was chosen as Envision Racing’s test driver for Formula E’s Women’s Test Day in Valencia. She will drive the current GEN3 Evo race car, which accelerates 30% more quickly than the cars used in Formula 1, which is used for the event.

The 20-year-old has a clear goal in mind, though.

She graduated from the McLaren driver development program last year as the only female driver, and she intends to follow in the footsteps of Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton, both of whom have won the title seven times.

“My end goal is obviously to reach F1 one day, and to continue climbing the ladder.”

In the first year since 1992, Italian champion Giovanna Amati would be the first woman driver to compete in a grand prix.