The 12-year-old has been tearing up the racetrack!
Formula One racing has long been a male-dominated arena but one Aussie tween is set on shaking things up – and we could not love this more. Oceane Colangelo, a 12-year-old champion Australian go-kart racer, has been scoring trophy after trophy thanks to her epic her driving skills, knocking down gender barriers and proving that girls really do run the world.
Oceane has been smashing her races ever since she started at just eight years old, and has a pretty nifty collection of gongs and impressive accolades under her belt. We’re talking 55 trophies and 40 wins, 130 podiums and 40 fastest laps – not to mention repeatedly being named Best & Fairest, Driver of the Meet, Club Champion and Rising Star – and now she has the F1 track firmly in her sights.
“My dream is to make my country proud on the Formula One racetrack one day,” she says.
And it’s not just a pipe dream – far from it, in fact. Oceane is currently the top candidate from Australia to attend the Ferrari Academy, after Ferrari and the FIA announced their ‘Girls on Track – Rising Star’ initiative in 2000. The program was created to identify and develop the female racing talent of the future and Oceane’s on track (no pun intended) to take her place in the coveted Academy by the time she’s 14.
“Oceane is focused and fearless,” says her dad and coach, Danny Colangelo. “She is not intimated by the fact she’s racing against mostly boys. All her fellow competitors respect her. She’s inspirational.”
Oceane – whose TikTik bio says she was “born to race” (and we believe it!) – is sharing her journey to the top of motor sports on the social media platform, posting videos of her races, her training, her wins… and we’ve gotta say, we’re impressed. With a growing number of female Formula One fans, it’s about damn time we saw some gals get behind the wheel.
Oceane is perfectly positioned to chase her dream of being the first female F1 driver since 1976, with the launch of the new F1 Academy all-female racing category this year. The category will see 15 women across five teams competing. “Everyone should have the opportunity to follow their dreams and achieve their potential, and Formula One wants to ensure we are doing everything we can to create greater diversity and routes into this incredible sport,” said F1 president Stefano Domenicali when news of the F1 Academy was announced.
“Formula One’s intentions are to ensure aspiring female drivers have the best opportunities to reach their potential, with an important first step of getting into Formula 3 and progressing through the ranks.”
