Q: Why don’t women drive Formula 1 cars?

A: Because there is no middle lane in a Grand Prix.

Joking aside, women and motor racing don’t appear to mix – unless you are talking babes.

Pussycat Dolls lead singer Nicole Scherzinger (F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton’s current squeeze) is the latest in a long line of glamorous pit groupies.

And TV companies seem to think that if you hand a microphone to a leather-trousered model and give her the freedom of the grid, it somehow enhances the coverage As for the driving itself, you can count on the fingers of one hand the women who have competed in a Grand Prix.

But one 15-year-old Cotswolds schoolgirl aims to debunk the stereotype and become a fully-fledged Formula 1 racing driver.

Alice Powell, from Sarsden, enjoyed an up-and-down first season in the Ginetta Juniors motor racing series, having progressed, like Hamilton, from karting.

Technical problems scuppered her championship challenge and she could finish only ninth. But, after a mid-season change of team, Alice posted three podium finishes and proved what a talented driver she could become.

She will up the stakes in 2009 when moving to single seaters for the first time in the Formula Renault series and she has already been offered a drive in the British Touring Car Championships the following year.

The articulate Miss Powell, who is doing her GCSEs in Year 11 at the Cotswold School in Bourton on the Water, appreciates that she is a rare bird in motor sport.

“In Formula 1, girls tend only to work in hospitality or hover around the pits,” she said.

“Anything mechanical to do with engines is seen as for boys.

“But I am dedicated to motor sport, it is what I really want to do.”

Her mum Eileen noticed Alice’s competitive edge and craving for speed at an early age.

“She used to tear around the garden on her bike, pretending to be Michael Schumacher,” said Eileen.

Alice learnt to drive a car at the age of five and three years later she had won her first kart race at the Reading Trail Park Cadet Club Championship.

After several successful seasons in karting, Alice was bought a car to compete in the Ginetta Junior G50 Championship in 2008. A third-place finish in the opening round at Brands Hatch announced her arrival as a newcomer to be watched and a spectacular mid-season crash did not dampen her enthusiasm.

“It was hairy as I hit an 18-inch high kerb at Thruxton and rolled the car,” she said matter of factly. Luckily, Alice got out unscathed and after switching to the Cardiff-based Muzz Racing, her results improved and the car became more consistent.

“Finishing second at Knockhill near Edinburgh in her second race with the new team was the turning point for Alice and really boosted her confidence,” said Eileen.

“She could have raced through the winter and again next year in the Ginetta series, but she needs to push forward.

“She will be moving to single seaters in the Formula Renault Championship, although we haven’t decided yet which team to join.

“It is hugely expensive and will cost £180,000 just to compete and a further £19,000 in entry fees alone.

“My father (Jim Fraser), who has an engineering background, sponsors Alice but we will be looking for others to top up that backing.”

The ultimate aim is a seat in a F1 car, although Alice admits her head is being turned by the British Touring Cars Championship.

It seems Cotswolds driver Jason Plato, a previous BTCC champion and veteran of 46 Touring Car wins is just as much an inspiration as newly-crowned F1 champ Hamilton.

“There is no real overtaking in F1, but the BTCC races are very exciting and the people involved are so friendly,” said Alice.

“I went to their dinner in London on Saturday night and I was introduced to Jason. He said us Cotswolds drivers have to stick together.”

Alice will hope that, come her time, the prejudice against female racing drivers will have disappeared.

She still has plenty of time on her hands. She may be racing at speeds of more than 110mph on the track but, on the roads of Britain, she can’t take her driving test for another three years!