Britain's Jessica Hawkins is the first woman to test a Formula 1 car in almost five years.
Aston Martin announced on Tuesday that Hawkins completed 26 laps in his 2021 car at the Hungaroring near Budapest last Thursday.
The 28-year-old former W-Series driver took turns in the car with test and reserve driver Felipe Drugovich.
“It took all my blood, sweat and tears to get here,” Hawkins said.
"I had to keep it a secret for months, which was quite difficult."“It was absolutely worth it and gave me some really valuable insights.”
The last woman to test an F1 car was Colombian Tatiana Calderón with Sauber - now Alfa Romeo - at the Hermanos Rodríguez track in Mexico City in October 2018.
Susie Wolff is the last woman to take part in training in 2015, while no female driver has competed in a Grand Prix since Italian Lella Lombardi in 1976.
Hawkins, former British karting champion and stunt driver in the James Bond film “No Time to Die,” has joined Aston Martin in 2021 as an ambassador driver.
She said: "Nothing compares to the acceleration and braking of a Formula 1 car and after looking at the data I'm really proud of my performance."
“I will continue to strive to achieve more and in doing so I want to inspire other women and let them know that they should follow their dream no matter what it is.”
Mike Krack,
Aston Martin team manager, said: “We were really impressed with Jessica’s preparation for the test – she worked incredibly hard with our simulator team and that made our decision to include her in the AMR21 an easy one.”
“Jessica approached the opportunity with great maturity; She learned quickly and found a good rhythm.”
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