Aston Martin racing have revealed the latest member of their Formula 1 team with the signing of Jessica Hawkins, who joins the outfit as their new Driver Ambassador.The 2021 Formula 1 season has already got off to a thrilling start and Hawkins will be part of an exciting new campaign in which Aston Martin's guise of Racing Point will see Lance Stroll and track legend Sebastian Vettel compete against the biggest talents in the world.GiveMeSport Women has put together everything you need to know about Aston Martin's newest recruit as she enters a new chapter in her racing career...
Who is Jessica Hawkins?
Hawkins is a 26-year-old single-seater racer from East Hampshire who is currently competing in the W Series. Representing Great Britain, she was part of the lineup during the inaugural 2019 season and raced to an 11th place finish in the final standings. She will compete in the long-awaited 2021 instalment of the tournament and will look to challenge fellow Brit and reigning champion Jamie Chadwick for the title.
Hawkins made her professional racing debut in 2014 and has competed across a number of formulas. Since early on, racing has been a passion of hers and as a sporty child growing up, she took to karting like a duck to water as soon as she sat behind the wheel.
What is her racing background?
Hawkins started her senior racing career in British Formula Ford, making her debut at Silverstone in 2014. It was a one-off event, but she made it count with two finishes inside the top ten, which attracted interest from Falcon Motorsport, who called her up to the team to represent them at the 2015 MSA Formula Championship.
After impressing with her rookie performances, Hawkins moved to single-make racing. There, she featured in the Mini Challenge and eventually finished runner up in the Pro division behind only Matt Hammond.
After her 2019 W Series debut, Hawkins continued to race in 2020 despite the limits due to the coronavirus pandemic. The 26-year-old enjoyed three appearances for Power Maxed Racing in the British Touring Car Championship. She now shifts her attention to the 2021 W Series season and has been involved in this week's test event in Anglesey.
Stunt driving
As well as her professional single-seater career, Hawkins boasts a very interesting talent on the side of her track racing. The Brit is a stunt driver and started this endeavour during the Fast and Furious Live shows. More recently however, Hawkins was part of the stunt team involved in the newest instalment of the James Bond franchise, 'No Time to Die'.
In a recent interview, she discussed her first movie stunt role and how she was the only woman on the job at the time.
"I felt really thrown in at the deep end, as it was my first film," Hawkins told The Female Lead. "But I just cracked on with it and got it done; they were super happy and I was super happy. Being one of the first people to be able to drive the new Defender was a complete privilege."
Off the back of driving the 2020 Defender model, Hawkins took on the role as ambassador for Land Rover, which was a step she explained she felt "very lucky" to have taken.
How to stay updated
Hawkins will be competing in the 2021 W Series, which gets underway next month in Austria. The opening two races of the season will take place at the Red Bull Ring on June 26th and July 3rd, before the competition arrives in the UK for its Silverstone leg.
The new Formula 1 season is already underway, with the Monaco Grand Prix coming up this weekend. Aston Martin are currently seventh in the standings, ahead of Alfa Romeo, Williams and Haas.