Sophia Flörsch

In 2019, Flörsch hit out at the then-new W Series women's Formula 3 championship, labelling it a "marketing thing" and a "step back on a sporting level".[4] She later downplayed the existence of a series-affiliated eSports championship held during the coronavirus pandemic.[5]

Upon entering the FIA Formula 3 Championship in 2020, Flörsch called out the German media claiming that they were favouring Mick and David Schumacher due to their fathers' (Michael and Ralf respectively) successes and alleged refusal to promote other German junior formula drivers, stating on Twitter "there is just one famous Schumacher".[6]

In 2015, Flörsch took part in the 2015 Ginetta Junior Championship season driving for HHC Motorsport. During the season, Flörsch collected two wins and a further two podiums. She made double Ginetta history at Thruxton by becoming the youngest driver to win a Ginetta Junior race, and also the first rookie to win two out of two races in one weekend.[8] Her season was cut short due to financial issues and she finished at the mid-season point, at that time running in third in the championship, also leading the Rookie championship. Her car for the season was Car 14, which she named Paul.

In 2016, Flörsch signed with Motopark to drive in the ADAC Formula 4 championship.[9] Her car for the season was Car #99, which she called Hugo.[10] In her debut race, she became the first female to score points in an ADAC Formula 4 race. She almost achieved her first podium in her third race however was hit by another car in the closing laps of the race, she recovered to fifth. Her first fastest lap of the season came at race 3 in Zandvoort, in a race halted by poor weather conditions.

The following year she raced for BWT Mücke Motorsport, scoring two podiums and two fastest laps.

On 13 March 2018, Flörsch participated in her first Formula 3 test, driving a Van Amersfoort Racing car. On 6 July 2018, it was announced that she would join Van Amersfoort Racing beginning with the round at Circuit Zandvoort a week later.[11] She finished 22nd in the standings, her sole point coming at the Red Bull Ring.

From 15 to 18 November 2018, Flörsch participated in the Formula 3 World Cup at the 2018 Macau Grand Prix. During the main race, on Lap 4, she made contact with fellow driver Jehan Daruvala, who was reportedly slowing for erroneously-displayed yellow flags on the straight between Mandarin Corner (Turn 2) and Lisboa Bend (Turn 3). This caused a front left suspension failure, catapulting her into Lisboa Bend sideways at high speed, launching off Sho Tsuboi's car, through the catch-fencing and smashing into a photographers' bunker, before landing back onto her wheels.[12][13] Flörsch was reported as conscious post-crash and was hospitalised along with Tsuboi, two photographers and a marshal.[14] She was later diagnosed with a spinal fracture, for which she underwent a surgery lasting almost 10 hours the following day, subsequently reported as successful with “no fear of paralysis”, by her race team leader, Frits van Amersfoort.[15][16]

Sophia Flörsch at the 2019 Macau Grand Prix.

On 14 December 2018, Van Amersfoort Racing confirmed that Flörsch would race for the team in the European F3 replacement series, Formula European Masters, in 2019.[17] After this series folded before a round was contested, Flörsch and VAR switched to the Formula Regional European Championship for updated Formula 3 machinery.[18] Having joined the championship only one week before the opening race, the team struggled throughout the entire season, and Flörsch could only manage 7th place in the drivers' standings.

Flörsch was selected by the HWA Team to attend the FIA Formula 3 Championship post-season test on 22 October 2019 in Valencia.[19] In early November, it was confirmed that Flörsch was placed on the team to compete in the 2019 Macau Grand Prix, with support from several Macanese companies and notable people.[20]

She failed to finish the race after her car suffered a mechanical failure which left her stranded ahead of the Mandarin Oriental Bend on the eighth lap.

Flörsch signed with Campos Racing for the 2020 season of the FIA F3 Championship to partner Alessio Deledda and Alex Peroni. After a difficult year with several mechanical problems, she finished 29th out of 35 drivers in the standings, with a best finish of 12th. She is the first woman to race in the championship since its formation after the GP3 Series and European F3 categories were merged.[21]

Flörsch combined her 2020 FIA Formula 3 Championship commitments with a debut in prototype racing, skipping the Spa-Francorchamps Formula 3 Round to enter the Le Castellet 240 with Beitske Visser for Richard Mille Racing Team in the LMP2 class of the 2020 European Le Mans Series instead.[22] The campaign also included entry into the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans, where she finished in 9th place alongside Visser and Tatiana Calderón.[23]

^† As Flörsch had not competed in the required number of rounds she was ineligible for a championship position.
^* Season still in progress.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

* The third race in Vallelunga was canceled due to bad weather and later run in Imola as a fourth round.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)