F1 hopeful Emma Kimilainen has opened up the time she put her racing career on hold after being told by her team to pose topless for an “erotic male magazine”.
Kimilainen spent five years away from motorsport after finishing the 2009 Formula Palmer Audi series in fifth place, but has since returned to become a star in the all-female W Series.
And the 31-year-old has now recalled what almost drove her away from the sport for good.
As she prepared to embark on the 2010 season with a new team, Kimilainen discovered that their sponsor was in fact a high end men’s magazine.
Speaking on the Shikaani Formula 1 Podcast, the Finnish driver has revealed she walked away after being told her signing was depended upon posing topless and in bikinis.
“A lot of things happened to me over my 28-year career,” she said.
“I was preparing to perform on the team but I decided to ask for more details.
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“They told me they had had some disagreements with the partner, they wanted pictures of me in a bikini and topless.
“I asked what was going on, until I realised that the partner was an erotic male magazine. I immediately refused.
“Today that proposal seems absurd and incorrect, but the world was very different 10 years ago with regard to women's rights and equality in general.
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“In competition there were girls with little clothes and women who showed a sexist image associated with the sex industry.
“I faced this with humour, as one of the crazy things that happened to me during these years.”
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