As a young girl, Maria Theresa de Philipps enjoyed many sports like horse riding, skiing, and tennis. She came from a wealthy family and recreational pursuits were encouraged, but that didn't seem to sit well with her two older brothers, Antonio and Giuseppe. It was the late nineteen forties and Maria had taken an interest in motor racing, which had seen a post war boom. But her brothers laughed at her. They told her she'd be a slow driver, and even had a bet on just how slow she'd go in
a race. That was enough inspiration for Maria. She was determined to prove them wrong. And prove them wrong, she would, hey, welcome to the pool room, where we celebrate the winners, losers and the weird stuff between. I'm Tony Armstrong. Maria Theresa de Philippus was born in Naples. She was the youngest of five kids, and believe it or not, her father was a count, so yeah, they came from money.
Maria took part in all the rich people sports, presumably on some vast plot of land around the family sixteenth century palace. Seriously, they owned a palace anyway, Maria was very much drawn to the sports that were traditionally considered ladylack, until her pesky brothers scoffed at her interest in motora. She wasn't the type to take that sort of attitude lying down, so she set out to show them up.
In nineteen forty eight, at twenty one years old, Maria entered her first race in a fee at five hundred, a local ten kilometer hill climb event, and she won. Apparently her mother had told her go slowly but win. She recorded the second fastest time in her class. No word on whether her brother's paid up on that bet. Maria was just getting started, though. She loved the speed of racing and showed no fear on the track. Her hero f one legend wile Manuel Fangio would later tell her,
you go too fast, you take too many risks. But this attitude was exactly what helped Maria succeed. She progressed to racing sports cars and was getting noticed both on the track and off it. She struck up a racing romance with a rival driver, Luigi Russo. The pair would help each other with their racecraft and even wagered their own friendly bets on who would place higher. They got engaged,
but never married and eventually split. Maria raced all over Italy in national championship events before her talents landed her a job with Maserati. Her brothers must have been spewing. In nineteen fifty eight, at thirty one years old, Maria made her debut in Formula one at the Belgian Grand Prix. She was the first woman ever to appear in an F one World Championship race. The grid was full of F one's biggest names of the day, like Sterling Moss,
Jack Brabham and Mike Hawthorne. Her once fiance, Luigi Lussa, was on the track too, driving for Ferrari behind the wheel of a Maserati two point fifty f Maria placed nineteenth in qualifying, a tough start for any driver, but her skill was on show as she finished the race in tenth position. Luigi crashed out and retired. Tragically. He lost his life a few weeks later in another accident
at the French Gorand Prix. From there, Maria appeared in a handful of other F one Championship events before retiring from racing altogether after the loss of Luigi and many other fellow drivers. During this dangerous period for the sport, she decided it was time to call it quits. She went on to marry an Austrian chemist and the couple started a family. Although her F one career was short lived, she blazed a trail for women in the sport and walked away from it with a full life ahead of her.
After racing, Maria was really seen at the track. She wasn't too fond of how money and glamour had changed the sport, but in nineteen seventy nine she joined the International Club for Former F One Drivers, alongside many championship grades. She died in twenty sixteen, aged eighty nine. Although women are still working their way into the male dominated world of Formula One, they only have to look at Maria's incredible story for all the inspiration they need. Thanks for
joining me in the poolroom. That's it for this episode, but I'll catch you in the next one. I'm Tony Armstrong. Have a good one.