Calderon hopes to “encourage girls” to follow suit

There were a few occasions in Baku where Tatiana Calderon was out on her own… Out on her own as the only female driver on track, out on her own as the only racer to adopt the alternate strategy, and most importantly, at one point in the race she was out on her own in first place.

It was at that point that sporting history was made, her pink BWT Arden machine winding around the narrow streets of Bako, glimmering in the sun ahead of the trailing pack, Calderon became a glistening beacon for female motor racing drivers.

By sitting in first place, the Colombian had become the first ever female driver to lead a race at this level. Although confident in both her own and her team’s ability, she had arguably accelerated her career pathway, by achieving this feat in just Round 2 of her first ever Formula 2 campaign.

“It was a cool moment,” assessed the Colombian driver. “I didn’t expect it, also because I stalled and had to start from the pit lane. I thought that if I was going to be leading at some point, then it would be quite difficult because we lost quite a lot of time.

“It was a good feeling, but obviously I want to be leading properly and be in contention to win a race. I think that it was a positive step and I hope that can encourage girls to come and join Formula 3 and then later on go into F2 as well.”

Calderon was unable to hold onto the position, eventually being passed by Jack Aitken before losing further places to drivers on fresher tyres. The 26-year-old’s alternate strategy appeared to be paying off though as she remained in the points when she planned to pit, before being cruelly denied a finish due to a technical issue.

“I think that in some ways I was a bit brave to change stuff and go with a different strategy and I think that to be honest it was paying off, although it is sad that we had to end it with a technical issue.

“I think that it shows that in the race we had quite good pace and we are capable of scoring points. I take that as a very positive weekend.”

It is those brave decisions that separate the average from the awesome, or in other words, the talent in the Formula series, from those who don’t quite make it. As a racing driver you have to be bold, and you have to be brave.

Had she not taken the risk, she may not have led the race and had she not suffered a technical issue, the strategy was on course to take her to a points’ finish.

On their reasons for choosing the alternate strategy, Calderon explained: “We truly believed we had a chance of getting a safety car quite late into the race in Baku, and I think that the planets were aligning because we had a safety car right where we wanted it. It is just a shame that we couldn’t make use of it because of a technical issue, but I don’t regret any of the decisions that we made and we were going to make it work.

“Both races were incredibly crazy,” she laughed. “Obviously as a driver, the more challenges that you have, the more you enjoy it, but I think that other rounds will be a little bit more quite.”

Switching the attention to the championship in general, Calderon felt that the Baku race was a fantastic advert for Formula 2. She continued: “It shows how competitive F2 is. People enjoy watching our races and we enjoy driving them because there is a lot of action. I am definitely looking forward to the rest of the season.”