Alice Powell

Alice Powell (born 26 January 1993) is a British racing driver. In 2010, she became the first woman to win a Formula Renault championship and in 2012 became the first woman to score points in the GP3 Series. In 2014, she returned to racing in Formula Renault and added to her championship victories by taking first place in the International Class of the 2014 Asian Formula Renault Series.

Alice Powell
Nationality	British
Born	26 January 1993 Oxford, England
MRF Challenge career
Debut season	2015-16
Car number	11
Starts	4
Wins	0
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Previous series
2014 2013 2012 2009, 2011 2010 2010 2009 2008	Asian Formula Renault Series F3 Cup GP3 Series Formula Renault UK Ginetta G50 Cup Formula Renault BARC Formula Palmer Audi Ginetta Junior Championship
Championship titles
2010 2014	Formula Renault BARC Asian Formula Renault Series
Awards
2010 2011	BWRDC GoldStars Award BWRDC GoldStars Elite

Racing career

Formula Renault

Powell was born in Oxford, England. She learned to drive at the age of six, and started her career in karting two years later.[1] In 2009, at 16, she drove in the Michelin Formula Renault UK Championship, becoming the youngest female driver in a Formula Renault race.[2] Powell finished the year as runner up for the Young Star Award at the Women of the Future Awards.[3] She was also awarded the British Women Racing Drivers Club GoldStars 'Elite' category Award.[4] Powell set a record in the fourth round of the 2010 Formula Renault BARC Championship by becoming the first woman to win a Formula Renault race in the UK,[3] and later in the year became the first woman to win a Formula Renault championship.[5] During the 2010 season Powell's race engineer was Sarah Shaw. Powell and Manor returned to the Formula Renault UK championship in 2011, but failed to win a race and finished the season in 9th place in the championship.

Powell returned to Formula Renault three years later, driving for FRD Motorsport in the International Class of the 2014 Asian Formula Renault Series. During the 11 race season Powell took five class victories, four of which were also outright race wins, and won the class.

GP3 Series

On 16 April 2012, after only two test days in the GP3 car, it was announced that Powell would drive for the Status Grand Prix team in the 2012 GP3 Series.[6] On 9 September that year she finished 8th in the 2012 Monza GP3 round sprint race, and in doing so became the first female points scorer since the inception of the GP3 Series in 2010.[7]

Formula 3

Powell competing in the MSV F3 Cup at Brands Hatch in 2013.

Powell joined F3 Cup for 2013 having been unable to continue in the GP3 Series.[8] She took part in the opening round of the 2013 British Formula 3 season at Silverstone, driving the Mark Bailey Racing run Dallara F306, which she also raced in the MotorSport Vision Formula Three Cup.[9]

In the 2013 MotorSport Vision Formula Three Cup, Powell finished second in the championship behind Alex Craven, having won five times during the season including three of the first four races.

Formula 1

On 12 November 2014 Powell was reported as trying to raise funds to drive a Caterham Formula One car, in a free practice session at the end of season Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.[10] The Caterham team had gone into administration in October 2014 and had not attended the previous two Grands Prix.[11] It was later reported that Powell had abandoned the idea as it was unlikely that the appropriate superlicence could be obtained.[12]

Formula E

In 2020, it was announced that Powell, now an ambassador for Dare to Be Different, would take part in the Rookie Test after the 2020 Marrakesh ePrix, driving for Envision Virgin Racing, partnering Nick Cassidy.

MRF Challenge

Powell signed up to compete in the first race of the 2015-16 edition of the MRF Challenge. At the first round in Abu Dhabi, Powell scored four top ten finishes out of four races, with a best finish of eighth in the final race, after being out of single seaters for nearly a year.[13]

Commentary career

Powell joined the Sky Sports Formula 2 commentary team when the 2020 season resumed in July 2020, after delays and cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Personal life

Powell attended The Cotswold School.[14] In 2013, she was included in the BBC series 100 Women.[15]

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2008	Ginetta Junior Championship	Tockwith Motorsport/Muzz Racing	24	0	0	0	4	326	9th
2009	Formula Renault UK	Manor Competition	20	0	0	0	0	88	18th
	Formula Palmer Audi	Motorsport Vision	3	0	0	0	0	33	25th
2010	Formula Renault BARC	Hillspeed	12	2	2	0	7	288	1st
	Ginetta G50 Cup	Tockwith	14	0	0	0	0	163	16th
		CDR	3	0	0	0	0
2011	Formula Renault UK	Manor Competition	20	0	0	0	0	258	9th
2012	GP3 Series	Status Grand Prix	16	0	0	0	0	1	19th
2013	MotorSport Vision Formula Three Cup	Mark Bailey Racing	18	5	1	11	8	396	2nd
	British Formula 3 Championship - National B Class		3	2	2	3	2	0	NC†
	GP3 Series	Bamboo Engineering	2	0	0	0	0	0	31st
2014	Asian Formula Renault Series	FRD Racing Team	11	5	5	1	9	242	1st
	British Formula 3 Championship	Carlin Motorsport	3	0	0	0	1	16	15th
	MotorSport Vision Formula Three Cup	Mark Bailey Racing	4	2	1	1	4	116	11th
2015-16	MRF Challenge Formula 2000	MRF Racing	4	0	0	0	0	9	18th
2018-19	Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy	Jaguar VIP Car	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC†
2019	W Series	Hitech Grand Prix	6	1	0	0	4	76	3rd
	WeatherTech SportsCar Championship - GTD	Heinricher Racing with Meyer Shank Racing	1	0	0	0	0	19	59th
2019-20	Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy	Jaguar ran racing eTROPHY Team Germany	10	0	0	1	2	70	4th

^† As Powell was a guest driver, she was ineligible for points. ^* Season still in progress.

Complete GP3 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	DC	Points
2012	Status Grand Prix	CAT FEA Ret	CAT SPR 11	MON FEA 11	MON SPR 22	VAL FEA 18	VAL SPR Ret	SIL FEA 17	SIL SPR Ret	HOC FEA 19	HOC SPR Ret	HUN FEA 19	HUN SPR 20	SPA FEA 18	SPA SPR 12	MNZ FEA 12	MNZ SPR 8	19th	1
2013	Bamboo Engineering	CAT FEA	CAT SPR	VAL FEA	VAL SPR	SIL FEA	SIL SPR	NÜR FEA	NÜR SPR	HUN FEA	HUN SPR	SPA FEA	SPA SPR	MNZ FEA	MNZ SPR	YMC FEA 19	YMC SPR 20	31st	0

Complete W Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	1	2	3	4	5	6	DC	Points
2019	HOC 2	ZOL 3	MIS Ret	NRM Ret	ASS 2	BRH 1	3rd	76

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Class	Make	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Rank	Points
2019	Heinricher Racing with Meyer Shank Racing	GTD	Acura NSX GT3	Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6	DAY	SEB	MDO	DET	WGL	MOS	LIM	ELK	VIR 12	LGA	PET	59th	19

Complete Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	D.C.	Points
2018–19	Jaguar VIP Car	Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY	G	ADR 5	MEX	HKG	SYX	RME	PAR	MCO	BER	NYC	NYC	NC†	0
2019–20	Jaguar ran racing eTROPHY Team Germany	Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY	P	ADR 3^3	ADR 3^3	MEX 8^5	BER 6^5	BER 7^6	BER 5^5	BER 5^5	BER 10^6	BER 5^5	BER 4^4	4th	70

^† As Powell was a guest driver, she was ineligible for points.

References

1. "F1 is Alice's wonderland". The Oxford Times. 24 July 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
2. "Gloucestershire racer Alice Powell sets another record". BBC News. 10 May 2010. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
3. "Award for teenage racing driver". BBC News. 13 November 2009. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
4. "Female racing driver honoured". BBC News. 19 January 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
5. "Alice Powell wins Formula Renault BARC title". Girlracer. 18 October 2010. Archived from the original on 23 October 2010. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
6. "Status Grand Prix sign Alice Powell". GP3Series.com. 16 April 2012. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
7. "Ellinas wins as Evans becomes Champion". GP3Series.com. GP2 Motorsport Ltd. 9 September 2012. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
8. "GP3 racer Alice Powell signs up for 2013 F3 Cup". MotorSport Vision Formula Three Cup. Motorsport Vision. 20 March 2013. Archived from the original on 11 July 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
9. "British F3 lines up for super Silverstone start". British Formula 3 Championship. Stéphane Ratel Organisation. 22 May 2013. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
10. "Alice Powell hopeful of Caterham F1 debut in Abu Dhabi". BBC Sport. 12 November 2014. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
11. "Caterham F1 manufacturer goes into administration". BBC Sport. 21 October 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
12. "Caterham to race in Abu Dhabi finale after fundraising success". BBC Sport. 14 November 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
13. "Abu Dhabi MRF Challenge: Fittipaldi wins finale, Calderon beats Reddy for second". motorsport.com. 31 October 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
14. "Racing driver Alice Powell receives top award". BBC Gloucestershire. 19 January 2010. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
15. "Who are the 100 Women 2014?". BBC. 26 October 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2016.

External links

• Official website
• Alice Powell career summary at DriverDB.com