Lella Lombardi is a racing driver from Italy who last raced in Formula 1 for Brabham-Ford. Lombardi has recorded 0 wins and 0 podiums from 13 starts.[1]
A Racer Rating of 4,460 ranks Lombardi 735th of 15,348 indexed drivers, on an Elo scale where the strongest reach the low five figures. It is built from every indexed race in the driver's file, decayed for time since their last race.
| 1976-08-15 | Red Bull Ring | P12 | +34 |
| 1976-01-25 | Autódromo José Carlos Pace | P14 | −7 |
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Podiums | DNFs | Poles | Points | Pos | Gain/Loss | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | ▸Formula 1 | Brabham-Ford | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P21 | +27 | 4,460 |
| 1975 | ▸Formula 1 | Williams | 11 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | P21 | −367 | 4,433 |
| Rival | Rating | Raced | Ahead | Behind | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇦🇷 Carlos Reutemann | 5,765 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0% |
| 🇦🇹 Niki Lauda | 5,364 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% |
| 🇩🇪 Jochen Mass | 5,075 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% |
| 🇫🇷 Patrick Depailler | 5,068 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20% |
| 🇿🇦 Jody Scheckter | 5,599 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 25% |
| 🇬🇧 John Watson | 5,367 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 25% |
| 🇸🇪 Ronnie Peterson | 5,168 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 25% |
| 🇬🇧 Tom Pryce | 5,114 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0% |
| 🇬🇧 James Hunt | 4,930 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0% |
| 🇬🇧 Tony Brise | 4,832 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 25% |
Lella Lombardi competed in Formula 1 from 1975 to 1976, driving for Brabham-Ford across 13 starts. She scored half a point at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix, the only female driver in the championship's history to finish within the points. Her Racer Rating of 4,460 places her among professional-level drivers, though her Formula 1 record itself reflects the step up in competition she faced; she finished ahead of a former champion and several strong front-runners on isolated occasions, but typically ran outside the points against a field that included multiple champions and established professionals several grades her senior.[1]
Lombardi's head-to-head records against her most frequent rivals tell the story of a driver learning at the sport's highest level. She encountered Reutemann, Lauda, Mass and Depailler repeatedly, finishing behind all of them in the majority of shared races. Her single victory over Jody Scheckter, a future world champion, came in 1976; she also beat John Watson and Patrick Depailler once each. Her average finishing position of P12.6 across classified races shows modest consistency rather than competitive strength in a grid where winning drivers regularly finished in the top six. Her 13 starts with a works-level Brabham entry comprised the extent of her single-seater career at the championship level.[2]
Beyond Formula 1, Lombardi raced in sports cars and endurance events, winning the 6 Hours of Pergusa and the 6 Hours of Vallelunga in 1979 and the 6 Hours of Mugello in 1981, and finished second in her class at the 1976 24 Hours of Le Mans. She remains a notable figure in motorsport history as the second female driver to qualify for Formula 1 and the first woman to score points in the championship.