𝗖𝗥𝗔𝗭𝗬 𝗚𝗜𝗥𝗟 ; mika hakkinen

o. laura lombardi & marie schumacher

EXTRACTS FROM THE NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY "THE LAST LAP"
( 2024 )

In 2024, Netflix released the documentary "Last Lap", which tells the stories of some of the most successful drivers who unfortunately died on track, sometimes even before they could get their hands on the title.

INTERVIEWER: Can we talk about Laura Lombardi?

ALAIN PROST [ F1 world champion 85, 86, 89, 93 ]: Wow . . . haven't heard that name in quite a while.

NIGEL MANSELL [ F1 world champion 1992 ]: Of course, how can we not talk about her? She was one of the most amazing people I have ever met. A woman of talent and class with the peculiar ability of telling someone to fuck off in creative ways [ chuckles ]. Trust me, I know that from personal experience. But more than that, she was a fantastic driver.

SUSIE WOLFF [ F1 Academy managing director ]: Racing ran in the Lombardi's family: Laura's aunt, Lella Lombardi, became the first woman to finish in the points in a Formula 1 race at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix, which became an important milestone for women in motorsport.

KEKE ROSBERG [ F1 world champion 1982 ]: Laura's debut in Formula 1 didn't come without criticism, despite the fact she almost immediately showed to have pace and that talent runs in the Lombardi family. So, it wasn't really a surprise to me when she ended on the podium in Japan, in 1988. And I think the best thing about it was that she was sharing it with Ayrton, who had just won his championship.

ALAIN PROST: Ayrton Senna and Laura Lombardi . . . a duo you wouldn't really have expected, but that actually worked so well. They knew each other before she debuted in F1, but they always refused to tell how they had met, which I think made their friendship even more mysterious to us. Because at first, we thought Ayrton was kinda, you know . . . flirting or trying to get his way around her. It wasn't a secret he liked girls, especially if they were a bit younger than him. But with time, I understood it was much more than that because she really understood him, something that I admit wasn't very common.

NIGEL MANSELL: I — I must admit that often I misunderstood Ayrton and never fully tried to befriend him or . . . even be a decent human being in his regards. Looking back at how things went, I kinda was an asshole to him many times. But I wasn't the only one — not that this would justify my actions. I think that at the time, he only ever had two drivers he could define as real friends: Gerhard Berger and Laura Lombardi.

GERHARD BERGER [ former F1 driver, 1984-1997 ]: me and Ayrton became close friends while being teammates at McLaren, in 1990 and 1991. Of course, I had the chance to chat with him before that, as well as I did with Laura. She was very kind off track, but if you disrespected her, which unfortunately happened a lot, she could really become evil. I mean, ask Nelson Piquet [ chuckles ]. But yeah, I knew she was one of the truest people on the grid at the time. And she was an amazing driver, she could've reached places with time: after six podium finishes, she was of course chasing a win and thinking about a championship. Unfortunately, things didn't go that way.

JEAN ALESI [ former F1 driver, 1989-2001 ]: it was my first season in Formula 1 and I was getting used to how things went. I wouldn't say it was a complete shock when it happened because we knew the risks of the sport, but the fact it happened right before me is what left me shaken. I was in sixth place, trying to keep up with Laura, who was ahead of me chasing down Alain Prost, when she suddenly went off track. At first, I cheered inside because it was Paul Ricard, my home race. But when I noticed the smoke and the fire, I immediately felt dread. As a rookie at the time, I often felt out of place, but Laura was kind and didn't mind talking with me. She had been in my shoes the year before, so I guess she understood me.