A huge Happy Birthday to Desire Wilson, born #OnThisDay 26 November 1953 in Johannesburg. She remains the only woman to win an F1 race of any kind, taking victory at Brands Hatch in the short-lived British Aurora F1 series in 1980, and is one of only five female F1 drivers to compete in Formula One.

The daughter of a South African motorbike champion, she attempted to qualify for the 1980 British Grand Prix but failed to make the grid, calling it “the most disappointing weekend of my life” due to a substandard car she described as “a con.” A year later, she raced a Tyrrell in the 1981 South African Grand Prix, moving up to ninth place from the back of the grid before spinning out. Although initially a championship race, it was later downgraded due to political issues between FISA and FOCA insisting on a date change which was not acceptable to the race organisers. It ran as a Formula Libre race rather than as a round of the Formula One World Championship.