Three flags make up the painting on the helmet of Aurelia Nobels, 15. On the right are the colors of Belgium, her parents’ country of origin. On the left, the pennant of the United States represents the place where she was born. In the center, green and yellow pay homage to the nation of idol Ayrton Senna and for which the pilot wants to be recognized.
The young woman integrates the grid of the newly created F4 Brasil, being the only woman to compete in the base championship that adds points for the super license, necessary to reach F1.
She is also one of 12 girls selected for the Girls On Track program, promoted annually by the FIA ​​(International Automobile Federation) since 2020 to encourage the participation of women in motorsport.
The best competitor after a series of activities, such as physical and mental training, tire management, media training, simulator and track experiences, will earn a place in the Ferrari Driver Academy, which prepares drivers for F1. The program started last week at the Paul Ricard circuit in France, and the winner will be announced in November.
“This program is trying to help us go to F1. You can see that they are trying to make the series have a woman, and I really hope I can be one of them”, says Aurelia to Sheet. “Is very sad [não ter referências]but I know there are a lot of women fighting for it.”
Aurelia shares her father Kevin’s dream. A fan of Ayrton Senna, he was the one who presented the story of the three-time champion to his daughter and was responsible for awakening her desire to become a pilot.
“Obviously we don’t see a lot of women so my dad was surprised [quando disse que queria correr]but he was very happy”, says the young woman.
Despite her young age, Aurelia demonstrates that she is aware of what she can represent for a generation that dreams of ending the 30-year hiatus without a woman in the main category of world motorsport.
“I always say that I am very happy to represent women in this sport and I hope to inspire other girls,” says the girl, who has more than 20,000 followers on social media.
The last woman to race in F1 was Italian Giovanna Amati, in 1992, when she tried, but failed to qualify for the three races she would do for the now-defunct Brabham team. At that time, not everyone qualified for the GPs, which had training sessions to define the 26 who would race on Sunday.
In 2019, during an interview with Sheet, Giovanna spoke about the sexist behavior of the other pilots during her short passage. According to her, Senna was the only one who respected her. “Others didn’t see me as a competitor.”
Aurelia says she has been through similar situations. “In the first two stages, in Velocitta, I was very fast, but they took me out of the race. [envolveu-se em acidentes]. I don’t know if it was on purpose because I’m a woman or if it was accidentally, but it was really annoying because they took away my chance to score.”
Currently, with only one point added, she is in the last position of F4 Brasil, which has 16 drivers. Lucca Zucchini, 15th, has 15. Pedro Clerot (177), Lucas Staico (101) and VinÃcius Tessaro (74) are the top three.
Aurelia also suffers from a lack of references in motorsport. With no female role models, she started rooting for names like the seven-time English champion Lewis Hamilton, from Mercedes, and the Monegasque Charles Leclerc, from Ferrari. Neither of them, however, overcomes the idolatry of Senna.
“I’ve seen a lot of his interviews [Senna]. And everything he said about determination was so real that it makes me want to work harder.”
In large part, it is because of him that, even without having Brazilian relatives, she decided to represent Brazil on the tracks. Although she is enrolled in the FIA ​​program as a Belgian driver, she also has a Brazilian license and has already made her choice for the future.
“I consider myself Brazilian. I’ve lived here for 12 years, I really like to represent Brazil. I always say that I represent Brazil more than the United States or Belgium”, she says. “My family knows that I’ve always lived here, I really like people’s affection, everything. So, they understand. And that’s my decision”, he guarantees.
Born in Boston, she moved to Brazil when she was just three years old. Even before that, she was growing up in a house full of references to Ayrton Senna. “My father has a lot of Senna’s stuff. He has a helmet, several magazines, a Brazilian flag. I grew up seeing all this.”
Soon, she hopes to obtain a Brazilian passport. Meanwhile, she builds her trajectory on the tracks and overturns prejudices.
“When you lower the visor, it doesn’t matter if it’s a boy or a girl”, he concludes.
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