In Conversation with Joanne Ciconte - Part I: Origins
Get to know the story behind Australia's latest offering to the motorsport world.
Looking back at the history of motorsport, both Australia and Italy have provided the world with a monumental amount of successful racing drivers. From Alberto Ascari and Jack Brabham all the way to Valentino Rossi and Will Power, the list is both a rich and an extensive one. This year, we’ll get to continue to witness the origin story of a driver produced by those two countries coming together - Joanne Ciconte - who aims to be the next driver on that list for both.
You may know her from her karting days, her rookie season in F1 Academy last year or the recent announcement that she’ll be competing in the Kyojo Cup in Japan in 2026. But if you don’t know her at all, then this is still the perfect place to rectify that.
“I always grew up thinking that I’m just a girl that has interest in the sport. And I never really thought, why am I the only girl? And I just, I don’t know, I just kind of grew up realising that it was quite normal to be the only girl.” - Joanne Ciconte
It’s Race Week! sat down recently with Joanne to chat about her motorsport career so far. From her origins in the racing world to that F1 Academy Season last year and what the future has in store for her, we cover it all as the seventeen year old has already packed quite a bit in. Below is the first part of our conversation with parts two and three coming soon. In this opening part, Joanne speaks about the beginning of her story, how she fell in love with racing and how she found her place in the world of motorsport.
Thiemo: So the first question I ask everyone, because you never know when it might be slightly different, is what first got you interested in motorsport?
Joanne: So what first got me interested in motorsport was actually my brother. I have a younger brother who was the age of seven at the time and he started to go karting. So my Dad introduced him to go karts and I was always such a sporty kid. I loved playing different kinds of sports and seeing my brother go kart was incredible because it wasn’t like an average rental go kart, it was something much faster, much more complicated and I was so young and I was, so sorry, I was only actually nine, eight years old at the time. So I was very naïve and eager.
I really was just intrigued by that, by seeing him just so happy and excited and having a great time. So obviously, that sparked my interest in motorsport first. At the time my brother was my biggest inspiration and I had to kind of, you know, beg my way to have a drive of the go kart because seven, eight years ago when I was eight, nine years old, so back in a long time ago, there were no females in motorsport. It was more of a male-dominated sport back then. So for my Dad to see me being interested in motorsport or to even have a drive, it was a bit weird for him. I think he just assumed that I wouldn’t enjoy it.
So he kind of brushed it off. But after having to kind of persuade him and every time my brother would go kart, which was kind of leading up to every weekend, I was begging my Dad to let me have a go. And eventually that opportunity came to me and I fell in love with it completely.
Just experiencing that speed and adrenaline at a young age was really incredible.
“My brother and I at the time actually shared a go kart for when we were practising until my Dad bought me my own go kart. I was so excited. It was like, you know, I was a kid in the candy shop kind of feeling.” - Joanne Ciconte
Thiemo: You’re both quite glad now that you were as persistent as you were with this!
Joanne: Yeah!
Thiemo: So was it that first time seeing your brother in the kart that made you decide you wanted to at least have a go at becoming a racing driver? Or was there a different point where you were like, this is I want to do this and there’s nothing else that really interests me as much?
Joanne: Kind of both, because my brother is what sparked that interest in the sport. And then once I obviously continued and it kind of turned into the sport that I was doing full time back then, I was only so young. I was doing multiple things. I was doing basketball, swimming, tennis, singing, and then karting just came by. So then I showed a lot of dedication to the sport. And then eventually I had no other time for any other sports. I kind of just stuck with karting because it was my favourite at the time. And then slowly over time, after a couple of races, it started getting more competitive. I was showing great performances.
And then I think my Dad kind of just clicked and he realised, well, is this something that you want to continue doing? And is this what you want to do? And I no doubt said, of course, I really love the sport. But at that time, when I was around 9, 10, 11 years old, even up to when I was 14 years old, 15, I had no idea that I was going to be in Formula racing. I always dreamt of being in Formula One and am still dreaming to be in Formula One, but I had no idea that go karts could kind of lead me to a path of Formula racing.
But of course, that was the dream. But yeah, I knew what I wanted, this is what I wanted to do once I started getting quite good in the races that I was racing in.
“I think one of the biggest struggles that I had to deal with was probably just belief because I think motorsport has just a huge misconception about female and men competing. And I just truly believe that motorsport is one of the only sports out there that when that helmet goes on, everybody is a different driver. Everyone has a different driving technique. And I think it’s just based off skill.” - Joanne Ciconte
Thiemo: Tell me about that first racing experience then, because did you have a go on the kart first just to get a feel for it, or did you go straight in at the deep end? And what was it like when you finally got that first taste of it?
Joanne: It was kind of both! So I did a couple of practises, but my Dad just basically shoved me into my first go kart race! He kind of pushed me there. My brother and I at the time actually shared a go kart for when we were practising until my Dad bought me my own go kart.
I was so excited. It was like, you know, I was a kid in the candy shop kind of feeling. And I had my first race and it’s a bit funny because you actually start with P plates. So everybody at the front knew I was like a back marker and I was going to be slow. But surprisingly, I did quite good in my first race. So I was quite happy at the time. But back then, you know, nothing was competitive. Everything was just purely for fun. And that’s why I think it’s really important to enjoy the moments.
Thiemo: Yeah, I think that lack of pressure then just helps you just focus on, like you say, enjoying the moments. And then ironically enough, you do a lot better when you don’t take it as seriously sometimes, because you don’t have that extra pressure on yourself. You’ve touched on it before, but obviously growing up in Australia, building a racing career as a young woman where that wasn’t really the norm. What was that experience like? And were there moments up to this point that made you think maybe this isn’t for me or maybe I should stop?
Joanne: Well, I think I didn’t have such a bad experience being a female in the sport because as I said, I started around eight years ago. And there were no girls at the time. There were absolutely no girls. You know, there was a big field of 49 boys and one girl, which was me. But my, you know, my qualifying and my pace, it was always at the top. So for me, I didn’t see at all like being a female in this sport was any different. I always grew up thinking that I’m just a girl that has interest in the sport. And I never really thought, why am I the only girl? And I just, I don’t know, I just kind of grew up realising that it was quite normal to be the only girl.
But now that I look back at it, it’s quite interesting because there were just no females that had any interest in the sport. And to look back now, there’s so many girls in the sport. And even to go to a racing track now, there’s a lot of girls, whether they’re a mechanic or a driver. So it’s incredible to see.
But I think one of the biggest struggles that I had to deal with was probably just belief because I think motorsport has just a huge misconception about female and men competing. And I just truly believe that motorsport is one of the only sports out there that when that helmet goes on, everybody is a different driver. Everyone has a different driving technique. And I think it’s just based off skill. And of course, physical fitness does apply. But I think everybody’s their own driver. It’s, I think, skill kind of outperforms that physical side of things, because at the end of the day, you can get that fast lap time. That’s what’s going to put you into first position.
So I think, yes, struggling. My biggest struggle being a female was just finding support and belief and just being able to believe in my ability.
Thiemo: And it’s the old saying of the stop watch, it doesn’t care one way or the other. It just wants the fastest time. You’re saying off track, did you have any negative experiences there with other people who you say you didn’t really notice that you were the only girl coming up through the ranks. But did you get any kind of negative response from other people? Or was it all pretty welcoming on the whole? Because sometimes you hear a bit of variety on all of that from when young girls are trying to get into motorsport.
Joanne: Well, when I kind of in my early stages of my career, so back when I was in karting, a lot of this relates to my karting years, because that’s when I feel like there were no girls at the time to being the only girl was quite unusual. But I think the only quite negative thing that I would get is my competitors just kind of being like, this girl beat me, like, you know, and like kind of trying to intimidate me or give me a salty look or go around the paddock and say something that I’m a girl and this and that or think I’m cheating because I’m a girl driving.
But I’m quite fortunate enough to have a mentality that motivates me when I come across stuff like that. I think that that’s kind of what’s driving me being so young and being the only female on the grid. A lot of that strikes me as they’re just annoyed that you beat them and treat you how they would have done if they had some kind of other advantage to get over some other drivers.
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Check back soon for the second and third parts of It’s Race Week!’s in depth conversation with Joanne Ciconte. Next time out, we’ll get into the story behind how she joined F1 Academy, the relationship she has with her management team, Pro Racing Motorsport, which includes Giancarlo Fisichella and Marco Cioci, and how she views her debut season in the Formula 1 support series.