There is still no news on my racing front yet. However, I am proud to have the continued support of nutrition and supplement company, MyProtein.

I am also proud to be a BRDC Rising Star again this year, for the third year running.

Most of you are probably aware that there is not actually a female competing for the Formula 1 World Championship. There is Susie Wolff, who is one of the test drivers at Williams, but she is yet to race.

Almost every young racing driver’s dream is to compete in Formula 1. Being a female in a very male dominated sport is hard, but it’s not going to stop me from enjoying it and wanting to race in Formula 1.

As a female racing driver, you do sometimes hear comments from people saying “Is that a girl driving? They can’t race surely?” Or you would hear the mechanics say to their male drivers “Don’t let that girl beat you! You can’t be beaten by a girl!”

The strongest memories of these kinds of comments were when I was just starting off karting outdoors.

I am not too sure if they stand out because I was very young, or because they happened often!

These comments just make me even more determined to beat them and give me something to chuckle about!

Formula 1 is my target. However, I would not just want to get there because I am a female.

Yes, it would be great for Formula 1 to have a female and it will certainly attract more viewers, like it did when Danica Patrick (a female racing driver in the USA) moved from one popular America race series to another.

Her pole position increased viewing figures of the NASCAR Daytona 500 last year, by 22 percent. It could add a different dimension to the sport too, but I want to be there because I deserve to be there.

It is said that women are not fit enough to drive in Formula 1. We may not be as strong as men initially (we naturally have 30 percent less muscle); however, it does not mean we can’t work to be “race fit”.

It just means we have to work that much harder on building our strength and stamina. Some people ask me why I bother, but I say that I do it because my love of the sport is great.

And actually, the challenge of getting fit, finding the money etc, is just another test that comes with the job and I won’t let it get in the way of my success.