Alice Powell

Alice Elizabeth Fraser Powell (born 26 January 1993) is a British racing driver and commentator. In 2010, she became the first woman to win a Formula Renault championship and in 2012 became the first woman to score points in the GP3 Series. In 2014, she returned to racing in Formula Renault and added to her championship victories by taking first place in the International Class of the 2014 Asian Formula Renault Series. In 2019, Powell was one of the 18 women selected to compete in the inaugural W Series championship. During the course of the season's six races, Powell took four podium finishes, including a win at the series finale race at Brands Hatch, and finished third in the championship standings. Following an enforced hiatus caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic, Powell returned to the W Series for the 2021 championship and won the opening race of the year, at the Red Bull Ring.

Racing career

Formula Renault Powell was born in Oxford, England. She learned to drive at the age of six, and started her career in karting two years later. In 2009, at 16, she drove in the Michelin Formula Renault UK Championship, becoming the youngest female driver in a Formula Renault race. Powell finished the year as runner up for the Young Star Award at the Women of the Future Awards. Powell set a record in the fourth round of the 2010 Formula Renault BARC Championship by becoming the first woman to win a Formula Renault race in the UK, and later in the year became the first woman to win a Formula Renault championship. During the 2010 season, Powell's race engineer was Sarah Shaw. Powell and Manor returned to the Formula Renault UK championship in 2011, but failed to win a race and finished the season in ninth place in the championship.

Powell returned to Formula Renault three years later, driving for FRD Motorsport in the International Class of the 2014 Asian Formula Renault Series. During the 11 race season Powell took five class victories, four of which were also outright race wins, and won the class.

GP3 Series

On 15 June 2012, after only two test days in the GP3 car, it was announced that Powell would drive for the Status Grand Prix team in the 2012 GP3 Series. On 9 September that year she finished eighth in the Monza round sprint race, and in doing so became the first female points scorer since the inception of the GP3 Series in 2010.

She returned to the series in 2013 for a one-off appearance at Yas Marina, replacing Melville McKee. She finished 19th in the feature race and 20th in the sprint, leaving her 31st in the overall standings.

Formula 3

Powell joined F3 Cup for 2013 having been unable to continue in the GP3 Series. She took part in the opening round of the 2013 British Formula 3 season at Silverstone, driving the Mark Bailey Racing run Dallara F306, which she also raced in the MotorSport Vision Formula Three Cup.

In the 2013 MotorSport Vision Formula Three Cup, Powell finished second in the championship behind Alex Craven, having won five times during the season including three of the first four races.

Formula 1 On 12 November 2014, Powell was reported as trying to raise funds to drive a Caterham Formula One car, in a free practice session at the end of season Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The Caterham team had gone into administration in October 2014 and had not attended the previous two Grands Prix. It was later reported that Powell had abandoned the idea as it was unlikely that the appropriate superlicence could be obtained.

Powell has served as the Talent Identification & Development Mentor for the Alpine Academy since 2022.

Formula E In 2020, it was announced that Powell, now an ambassador for Dare to Be Different, would take part in the Rookie Test after the 2020 Marrakesh ePrix, driving for Envision Virgin Racing, partnering Nick Cassidy. She has served as the Simulator and Development Driver for the team since the 2021–2022 season. Powell also took part in the May 2024 Berlin rookie test and November 2024 Jarama pre-season women's test for Envision Racing. She returned with the team for the October 2025 pre-season women's test in Valencia, finishing both the morning and afternoon sessions in fourth.

MRF Challenge Powell signed up to compete in the first race of the 2015–16 edition of the MRF Challenge. At the first round in Abu Dhabi, Powell scored four top ten finishes out of four races, with a best finish of eighth in the final race, after being out of single seaters for nearly a year.

W Series

Powell participated in the inaugural W Series Championship in 2019. She won the season-ending race at Brands Hatch along with three other podium finishes, finishing 3rd overall in the standings.

Powell returned to W Series in 2021 competing with the newly formed Racing X team. Powell dominated the first race of the season at the Red Bull Ring, taking her first pole position, setting the fastest lap and leading every lap to take the race win. Powell finished the season with three wins, five podiums & 132 points, as she went on to finish runner-up to Jamie Chadwick.

Powell moved to Click2Drive Bristol Street Motors Racing for the 2022 season. She finished third in the standings, with one win, four podiums, one pole position, and one fastest lap.

Commentary career

Powell joined the Sky Sports Formula 2 commentary team when the 2020 season resumed in July 2020, after delays and cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She has commentated at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, and currently works for Whisper Entertainment's F1 on Channel 4. Powell also works for F1 TV as part-time commentator for Formula One. Powell has also been a co-commentator for F1 Academy since 2024.

Coach mentor career Powell also serves as a coach mentor and currently manages Abbi Pulling, 2024 champion of the F1 Academy championship and currently driving in the GB3 Championship.

Personal life Powell attended The Cotswold School. In 2014, she was included in the BBC series 100 Women.

Racing record Career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position 2007 Ginetta Junior Championship Tockwith Motorsport 11 0 0 0 0 62 16th Ginetta Junior Winter Series 3 0 0 0 0 ? 5th 2008 Ginetta Junior Championship Tockwith Motorsport/Muzz Racing 24 0 0 0 4 326 9th 2009 Formula Renault UK Manor Competition 20 0 0 0 0 88 18th Formula Palmer Audi Motorsport Vision 3 0 0 0 0 33 25th 2010 Formula Renault BARC Hillspeed 12 2 2 0 7 288 1st Formula Renault UK Winter Series Manor Competition 7 0 0 0 0 53 12th Ginetta G50 Cup Tockwith 14 0 0 0 0 163 16th CDR 3 0 0 0 0 2011 Formula Renault UK Manor Competition 20 0 0 0 0 258 9th Formula Renault 2.0 NEC SL Formula Racing 2 0 0 0 0 24 35th MRF Formula 1600 Delhi Sidvin/Petes 2 0 0 0 2 33 2nd InterSteps Championship Motaworld 1 0 0 0 0 12 14th 2012 GP3 Series Status Grand Prix 16 0 0 0 0 1 19th Formula Ford 1600 – Walter Hayes Trophy ? 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 12th 2012–13 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 MRF Racing 10 0 0 1 2 79 5th 2013 GP3 Series Bamboo Engineering 2 0 0 0 0 0 31st MSV F3 Cup – Class A Mark Bailey Racing 18 5 1 11 8 396 2nd British Formula 3 International Series – National B 3 2 2 3 2 0 NC† 2014 Asian Formula Renault Series – International Class FRD Racing Team 11 5 5 1 9 242 1st British Formula 3 International Series Carlin Motorsport 3 0 0 0 1 16 15th MSV F3 Cup – Cup Class Mark Bailey Racing 4 2 1 1 4 116 11th 2015 Silverstone 24 Hours – Class 3 Andrew Palmer 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 4th 2015–16 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 MRF Racing 4 0 0 0 0 9 18th 2018–19 Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy Jaguar VIP Car 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC† 2019 W Series Hitech GP 6 1 0 0 4 76 3rd WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – GTD Heinricher Racing with Meyer Shank Racing 1 0 0 0 0 19 59th 2019–20 Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy Jaguar ran racing eTROPHY Team Germany 10 0 0 1 2 70 4th Formula E Envision Virgin RacingTest driver 2020–21 Formula E Envision Virgin Racing Simulator/Development driver 2021 W Series Racing X 8 3 2 4 5 132 2nd 2021–22 Formula E Envision Racing Simulator/Development driver 2022 W Series Click2Drive Bristol Street Motors Racing 7 1 1 1 4 86 3rd 2022–23 Formula E Envision RacingSimulator/Development driver 2023–24 Formula E Envision RacingSimulator/Development driver 2024–25 Formula E Envision RacingSimulator/Development driver 2025–26 Formula E Envision RacingSimulator/Development driver † As Powell was a guest driver, she was ineligible for points.

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 NEC results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete GP3 Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 DC Points 2012 Status Grand Prix CATFEA CATSPR MONFEA MONSPR VALFEA VALSPR SILFEA SILSPR HOCFEA HOCSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR SPAFEA SPASPR MNZFEA MNZSPR 19th 1 2013 Bamboo Engineering CATFEA CATSPR VALFEA VALSPR SILFEA SILSPR NÜRFEA NÜRSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR SPAFEA SPASPR MNZFEA MNZSPR YMCFEA YMCSPR 31st 0

Complete W Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DC Points 2019 Hitech GP HOC ZOL MIS NOR ASS BRH 3rd 76 2021 Racing X RBR1 RBR2 SIL HUN SPA ZAN COA1 COA2 2nd 132 2022 Bristol Street Motors Racing MIA1 MIA2 CAT SIL LEC HUN SIN 3rd 86

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Class Make Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Rank Points 2019 Heinricher Racing with Meyer Shank Racing GTD Acura NSX GT3 Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6 DAY SEB MDO DET WGL MOS LIM ELK VIR LGA PET 59th 19

Complete Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) Year Team Car Class12345678910 Points 2018–19 Jaguar VIP Car Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY G ADR MEX HKG SYX RME PAR MCO BER NYC NYC NC† 0 2019–20 Jaguar ran racing eTROPHY Team Germany Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY P ADR ADR MEX BER BER BER BER BER BER BER 4th 70 † As Powell was a guest driver, she was ineligible for points.