WATCH: Jessia Hawkins reveals her dream F1 test drive

Jessica Hawkins has just become the first woman in nearly five years to test drive a Formula One car. She revealed to CGTN Europe her love for the sport and her hopes to inspire more females to get behind the wheel.

The 28-year-old former British karting champion is an Aston Martin driver ambassador and former W Series racer.

After completing 26 laps in Aston Martin's 2021 car at the Hungaroring outside Budapest last week, Hawkins said: "It was something I'm going to hold very close to my heart forever. And I look forward to maybe driving it again."

Asked about the difference between driving a road and racing car, Hawkins added: "You drive as fast as you can, as fast as the car will go, as fast as you're willing to push it. That's what racing is about. It's about speed and adrenaline. 

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I guess that's why I fell in love with it so much almost 20 years ago when I first started. I still love it as much now as the day I first started, so I absolutely love it."

Formula One has not had a woman driver start a grand prix since Italian Lella Lombardi in 1976, but a number have tested the machinery. The last female driver to test before Hawkins was Colombia's Tatiana Calderon with Sauber, now Alfa Romeo, at Mexico City's Hermanos Rodriguez track in October 2018.

The career of Hawkins, who has also worked as a James Bond movie stunt driver, stalled because of a lack of cash until the W Series, an all-female platform which has since folded, came along in 2019 with all costs covered. 

Having joined Aston Martin as a driver ambassador in 2021, Hawkins said: "I first started because I was a very sporty kid, never particularly academic, but I did excel at sports and I was playing golf with my dad one day and I spotted a car in the distance and I just begged him to let me have a go. 

"I won the championship in my first year. We didn't really have any idea what we were doing, so we just followed the advice of others and here I am! Having now driven a formula one car, an eight-year-old Jessica would be very, very proud. And she probably wouldn't believe you if you told her!"

The test in Hungary represents a huge moment in Hawkins' role with the Aston Martin team and offers a valuable perspective as she prepares to support the team's entry into the all-female F1 Academy series in 2024.

On the lack of females in the sport, she said: "I honestly think that it's a lot to do with a numbers game. There are less women drivers racing, but over the last few years, we've seen a massive, massive increase in females starting at grassroots level and juniors. 

"There are so many more now than when I first started. We're a lot further forward, but we still need to make progress and I hope that this inspires some young females to push forward and know that motorsport is accessible to them as well." 

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