Only 5% of Drivers In Motorsports Are Women: F1 and Charlotte Tilbury Team Up To Change That

Women-owned businesses have been tackling gender biases in sports through collaborations and partnerships.

In recent years, as well as the normalisation of self-care brands collaborating with sporting events, there has been an increase in collaborations between big sporting events and female-owned brands.

While the alliance between sport and personal care remains dominated by male companies, the Super Bowl, which was held in stadiums across the US in February this year, featured the names of self-care brands Dove, CeraVe and Cetaphil.

After winning the UEFA European Championships in 2022, the England Lionesses have been the face of many ad campaigns for self-care brands.

Last year, Optimum Nutrition partnered with England Striker Lauren James. The televised campaign paired the female athlete with protein powder, strength and nutrition.

In the summer of 2023, Tampax UK collaborated with England Defender's Jill Scott MBE and Demi Stokes.

The 'changing room confessions' advertisement highlighted women in professional sports and normalised female athletes managing menstruation.

The latest brand to take the leap is cosmetics company Charlotte Tilbury.

This week, Charlotte Tilbury announced that it would become the first female-founded brand to sponsor Formula One (F1).

The brand will sponsor the F1 Academy, the female-only single-seater racing championship that was founded by Formula One to increase female participation in motorsport after it was found that only five per cent of drivers in motorsports are women.

After the official partnership had been announced, Charlotte Tilbury MBE, the founder of the beauty business, said: "Motorsport has a huge female following and the drivers of F1 Academy are already increasing representation and diversity in the sport."

"With this partnership, we will use our global platform to elevate this new generation of fearless young female drivers and open up the traditionally male-dominated world of motorsport to even more talented young women," Tilbury added.

All drivers in the F1 Academy, which boasts a one-make racing series consisting of 15 identical cars, must be women between the ages of 16 and 25.

The image that revealed the partnership, depicted is-year-old driver Lola Lovinfosse in front of her racing car.

The car was covered in Charlotte Tilbury branding, including images of lipsticks, lips and the slogan: "Make up your destiny!"

Susie Wolff MBE, the Managing Director of F1 Academy, explained: "At F1 Academy, we want young women and girls to feel confident to chase their dreams, no matter the odds. We are on a mission to transform access to our sport, celebrate trailblazing female pioneers in our industry, and inspire a new generation of young women to pursue a career in motorsport."

In regard to the beauty brand, which generated more than £310 million in 2022, Wolff added: "It's a huge privilege to be partnering with Charlotte Tilbury, a brand whose values align so closely to our own.

"I want to thank Charlotte for believing in our mission and enabling us to reach a new audience of young women to showcase the opportunities available to them in our sport. Our message to them is simple: dare to dream."

This is not Tilbury's first partnership that set out to highlight female athletes and self-care.

Working with Charlotte Tilbury, Ella Toone, a Midfielder for England and Manchester United, regularly expresses her love for Charlotte Tilbury's make-up products on her social media page.

While packing for the 2023 FIFA World Cup in Australia, in a sponsored post on YouTube, Toone showed her followers her Charlotte Tilbury travel kit.