"It’s a dream come true” while considering her imminent participation in the F1 Academy. It is a combination of youthful ebullience paired still with a hint of disbelief as the 17-year-old who was inspired by Lewis Hamilton looks to a future in the sport’s new all-female championship that is far from fantasy.
Having committed herself to going racing so that her final years at school became an experience she hated, then dealt with online abuse with a self-possession beyond her years, Grant is ready to embrace what she hopes will be the start of great things. The teenager from Perth in Scotland, who passed her driving test only a couple of weeks ago, wants to emulate Britain’s multiple world champion, a role model on and off track.
"I really like Lewis, not just because he is British and because he is such a good driver, but because of the person he is,” she says. “He has such a kind heart, he is really genuine and he works really hard. I was very lucky to meet him in 2018. He was late for a meeting but he took half an hour to speak to me and he made me feel like an equal, spoke to me like a normal person. He was so kind, it was so inspirational, like nothing else. I have always have looked up to him and I always will.”
By the time I was 11, I thought: ‘I want to do this as a career,’” she says. “I was still a kid then but last year and this year it has become really, really serious, there is no turning back. This is what I have got to do now, I can’t see any other path for me.”
Grant enters the series on the back of winning four karting championships, receiving recognition and awards including from the British Women Racing Drivers Club. In 2021 she won a scholarship for a drive in the Junior Saloon Car Championship and followed it last year with her first season in the GB4 championship. However, it was not a journey without commitment and that came at a cost.
“I got my grades but I hated high school, I did not have a good experience,” she says. “I really struggled with friend groups because they didn’t understand my sport. They were hanging out every weekend and were constantly together and I couldn’t do that, I was either racing or training. I was totally committed to my sport and they pushed me away, so it was a really, really hard time for me. I had to get out as soon as I could.”
As a driver other drivers respect you,” she says. “I have only come across one guy who didn’t like being beaten by a girl and he doesn’t race any more. The other drivers don’t care if you are a girl, once your helmet is on you are just another driver. But on social media I get negative comments from 12-year-old boys right up to 60-year-old men who are jealous because they are not involved in the sport and they don’t understand it. They say women don’t have the talent, all the things under the sun, but you just ignore it because it’s not true.”
The young Scot takes to the Red Bull Ring on Saturday in a fresh championship that, she tells Giles Richards, could help bring her F1 dream
