Danica Patrick

Racing career Danica Patrick

American Danica Patrick started karting at the age of 10. Four years later, she moved to England from America and made her entrance into Formula Vauxhall and Formula Ford. As a young girl, Danica always had dreams of one day driving in Formula 1.

After living and racing in England for several years, she returned to America, where she competed in the Atlantic Championship. This racing class is also considered the precursor to the Indy Racing League. In 2004, she managed to finish third in the standings. A year later, she switched to the Indy Racing League, competing with the Rahal Letterman Racing team. She also won the Rookie of the Year title immediately that year.

In 2008, Danica Patrick made history, winning her first race in the IndyCar Series at the Montegi circuit in Japan. She thus entered the history books as the first woman ever to win a race in a formula racing championship.

Indy 500 Danica Patrick

Danica Patrick participated in the Indy 500 no less than eight times. During her first participation in 2005, she finished fourth, which at the time was the highest ever achieved position for a woman. A few years later, in 2009, she managed to improve on this result, finishing third. At her last Indy 500 race in 2018, she grabbed seventh place in qualifying, but unfortunately did not make it to the finish. On lap 68, she crashed and so it was left with third place as the highest result.

NASCAR

In 2010, Patrick made her debut at Daytona International Speedway. Unfortunately, she did not make it to the finish line and crashed. A year later, she managed to finish fourth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In 2012, Danica became a full-time NASCAR driver. In 2013, Danica Patrick managed to secure pole position for the Daytona 500, which she achieved with a lap of 196.434 mph.

Danica Patrick F1

By the way, Danica Patrick has never driven a Formula 1 car during her career. There were, however, many rumours that Patrick was linked to F1, but it did not come to that. Danica would also only join the king class if there was serious interest and did not want to participate purely for publicity.

In 2018, Danica Patrick will end her racing career. Above all, she hopes she will be remembered as a good driver as well as a woman, but preferably in that order.

"I hope people don't remember me as 'that female driver'. I was always just one of the many drivers in the field and happened to be a woman. People expected me to act as an ambassador of women in sport, but I prefer to see myself as someone who inspires others by doing what I do."

In any case, she has made an impression in the world of motorsport and is considered the most successful woman in US motorsport history.

What is Danica Patrick doing now?

After ending her professional racing career in 2018, she has not completely left the world of motorsport. Among other things, she has started working as an analyst for FOX Sports and works with Sky Sports for Formula 1 Grands Prix. Among other things, she has been spotted in the paddock during the 2022 F1 Canadian Grand Prix.

Danica also enjoyed the title battle between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in 2021. You can read more about it in this article.

Is Danica Patrick married?

Danica Patrick was married to Paul Edward Hospenthal for seven years. They married in 2005, but unfortunately a seven-year marriage came to an end. After this, Patrick had several more relationships, including with NASCAR driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Carter Comstock. The last relationship ended in 2022 and currently Danica Patrick is probably single, but that is not known.

How old is Danica Patrick?

Danica Patrick was born on 25 March 1982 in Beloit, Wisconsin (US). She is currently (2023) 41 years old.

What is Danica Patrick's height?

Danica Patrick is approximately 5′ 1½″ (1.56 m) tall.