Two minutes and five seconds.
Perhaps that’s the amount of time it takes for you to brush your teeth?
Well, in that same time, 16-year-old Joanne Ciconte has already completed a lap of the 4.79km Marina Bay Sands Circuit in Singapore. Travelling at a top speed of 240km/hour in her Formula Four car.
At 16 years and 11 months old, Joanne Ciconte is the youngest driver in the F1 Academy.
But the Melbourne teenager is wise beyond her years, especially considering she’s spent almost half of them driving on the racetrack.
“I just remember watching my brother driving and doing some laps. I was always analysing what he was doing, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, you know, he's so fast.’ And for me, it was like I was a kid in a candy shop.”
After watching her brother and father race in go-karts for many years, at age nine, Joanne managed to convince her family to finally let her join in.
“I think my dad just assumed that I wouldn't enjoy it, and that led to me having to convince him to let me drive. And when I finally was able to have a drive, I just completely fell in love with everything.”
So in love was Joanne, that she almost had an out-of-body experience the first time she drove at the Oakleigh Go Kart Racing Club.
“I felt this vibration throughout my whole body, going at such high speeds and with the adrenaline, and I just remember taking off my helmet with this huge smile.
I think my parents knew that there was no going back.”
Indeed, it was the start of an addiction. An addiction that has taken Joanne right around the country, competing against everyone and anyone who dared to go up against her.
“Often, I was one of 50 competitors, and I would be the only girl. But I didn't mind because talent means no gender, and I didn’t mind watching the boys get a little salty.”
In 2023, Joanne won Australian Karting’s biggest annual women’s karting event – the Pink Plate. From there, she was selected as one of only sixteen young drivers in the World for the FIA Girls on Track Rising Stars Program, at the Ferrari Drivers Academy in Italy.
“We basically did a shootout camp to be a Ferrari driver. And again, entering a formula car was a new level of sensation, and it was a new level of my love for motorsport.”
Joanne clocked the fastest lap times in both the first and second rounds and progressed all the way to the final four of the programs.
“That’s just when the tables turned, and I thought, okay, this is definitely something I want to do.”
From there, the F1 Academy came knocking.
“My parents actually knew, before I did. And they kind of set me up having this fake meeting with my manager and he just said it so casually and I didn’t know what to say. I was so happy.”
The F1 Academy is an all-female, Formula 4-level racing series launched by Formula 1 in 2023 to help develop and prepare female drivers for higher levels of motorsport.
Joanne has now completed her rookie season in the Academy, finishing the season in 14th, and becoming the first Australian, alongside Aiva Anagnostiadis, to compete in the series.
Her standout performance came on the Marina Bay Sands Track in Singapore, after finishing the second race in 8th position, inspiring young women across the world.
“I think it means a lot because I didn't get that role model, and to be only 16 years old and knowing that I am a role model like that is really heartwarming. I really hope that I am an inspiration, whether it's in the motorsport industry or not.”
But with success can come chaos.
“It’s been chaotic this year. I've had over 50 flights. As a 16-year-old, it's a bit nerve-wracking, taking flights now by myself, traveling the world.
I do get homesick here and there, but I always just try and keep my eyes forward and know that I'm doing this um because I love what I'm doing.”
Plus, there are the financial pressures that come with competing in a sport like Formula One.
“It’s a bit of a hard topic to talk about because I think that's been my biggest barrier as a driver.
Obviously, I'm from Australia, so a lot of it counts with moving all of my racing stuff overseas and having to constantly travel. It all adds up in the end. And I think financial issues are just still and will be the biggest problem.”
While Joanne may not yet be the richest driver on track, she has worked out her own way to find success in the sport.
“Mentally and physically, we do simulation training that helps us prepare and visualise the track before we get there. All of these tracks [in F1 Academy] I have never been to, and I'm competing against girls who have been there before. So, for me it's been really crucial to get on the simulator, do as many laps as I can there.”
But regardless of what happens on the track, Joanne has already established herself among the icons of the sport of Formula One.
Figuratively, but also literally.
Joanne Ciconte and fellow F1 Academy star Aiva Anagnostiadis, are among the few women who have their items displayed at the Official F1 Exhibition that's just landed in Melbourne.
“Without giving too much away, let’s just say I've chosen probably some of the biggest and meaningful things as a driver for me in my story to where I am now.”
But Joanne’s story is only just beginning.
When asked about her ultimate goal, there was no two ways around it.
“I want to be Australia's first female Formula 1 driver. That's been my biggest goal since I was a kid, and to be a step closer to that every single day is so meaningful to me.”
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