When Joanne Ciconte was born, no woman had competed in Formula One for 16 years.

And no woman has taken to the grid in the years since as teenager Ciconte rises up the ranks from Melbourne go-kart tracks to the F1 Academy.

Italian racer Giovanna Amati was the last to do so, driving a Brabham in three events in 1992.

Even then, Amati had not started in a race - the last woman to have done that was Leila Lombardi in 1976.

Out of more than 700 F1 drivers in history, only five have been women.

None of the five are Australian, but Ciconte is out to change that.

The 16-year-old has been dreaming of becoming an F1 driver since sharing the track with former ace Daniel Ricciardo, the winner of eight races, as a grid kid at the 2019 Australian Grand Prix.

"I was starting to realise my future could be Formula One one day but it was hard to believe because there weren't many women as I was coming up the ranks," Ciconte told AAP.

She was nine when she first jumped into a go-kart, determined to have a go after watching her younger brother Cosimo around the track.

"It took a couple of days of convincing my dad," Ciconte said.

"I was just like, please, like let me try. I'm going to try.

"And I fell in love with it instantly. I can't even express how I felt, experiencing speed like that.

"My family and I didn't realise how serious it would become."

A call-up to the all-women F1 Academy has now brought Ciconte one step closer to realising her dream.

She earned her spot as one of 18 in the Formula Four category after impressing in the Central European Zone F4 Championship, Spanish F4 and Formula Winter Series.

Ciconte is joined by fellow Melbourne teenager Aiva Anagnostiadis, 17, in the F1 Academy.

The F1 Academy was launched in 2023 to help develop women drivers hone their skills and progress into higher levels of competition.

It is run by Susie Wolff, the first woman to drive an F1 car at a race weekend in 22 years after participating in a practice session in 2014.

"I've grown up racing against other boys - I've sort of normalised it," Ciconte said.

"But if we had as many girls as boys, there'd be more and more girls better than the men, you know?

"All I care about is driving.

"I always say that I've got my eyes forward because it's the most important part."

Australian rally driver Molly Taylor could only praise Ciconte and Anagnostiadis, knowing just how hard it is to forge a path in motorsports.

Taylor became the youngest ever to claim an Australian Rally Championship in 2016, before winning the Extreme E World Championship in 2021.

She is the daughter of six-time Australian rally champion co-driver Coral Taylor.

"It is really hard - I know from personal experience - to make it in international motorsport," Taylor told AAP.

"It is challenging in so many ways when you look at all the different things you need to put together to get the budgets and the support to go racing.

"These girls have to put in the work to make that happen so I'm really proud to see them have this opportunity and see them take it and run with it."

The F1 Academy is one of a number of initiatives around the world to grow the participation of women in motorsports.

Motorsport Australia runs the FIA Girls on Track program, another initiative spearheaded by Wolff, which aims to encourage school-aged girls to grow interest in STEM subjects and industries.

"If they only see men on track, that perception (that women can't be in motorsports) can be formed at a really young age," Taylor said.

"When you don't have a huge percentage of young girls at the grassroots level, statistically, it's just really unlikely that one of that smaller percentage is going to make it through.

"One of the things that also influences the grassroots level is the visibility for young girls seeing women at the top, so it's a little bit chicken and egg.

"That's where things like the F1 Academy come into play - when young girls turn on the TV, they can see a pathway that's possible for them."

Ciconte and Anagnostiadis will make their F1 Academy debut at the season opener at Shanghai International Circuit starting on March 21.