Full Speed Ahead: The Woman Behind TERESA

Maria Teresa de Filippis was not supposed to be there.

In 1958, Formula One was a world built entirely for men. It was fast, dangerous, and closed to anyone who didn’t fit the mold. When de Filippis arrived at the 1958 French Grand Prix, she was turned away with a remark so dismissive it has been documented ever since. She was told, in plain terms, that the only helmet a woman needed was one for her hair.

She showed up to the next race anyway.

Born in Naples, Italy in 1926, Maria Teresa was the youngest of five children. She discovered motorsport through her brothers, who, convinced she would back down, dared her to enter a local hillclimb race near the Amalfi Coast. She was 22. She climbed behind the wheel of a Fiat 500, ran the course, and won her class.

That set off a chain of events that led her to one of Formula One’s biggest stages, where she drove a Maserati 250F alongside legends like Juan Manuel Fangio. She earned her place through years of sports car racing, a second-place finish in the Italian Sports Car Championship, and strong performances that drew the attention of none other than Maserati. The company brought her into its official racing effort.

Filippis at the 1958 Belgian Grand Prix in her Maserati 250F

Fangio himself took notice, and not always approvingly. 

"Fangio told me I drove too fast," she later recalled with characteristic lightness, "that I should try to go a little slower."

Coming from the man widely regarded as the greatest Formula One driver of all time, it was less a criticism than a compliment.

When she qualified for the 1958 Belgian Grand Prix and finished the race, she became the first woman in history to compete in a Formula One World Championship event.

Her time in Formula One was brief, but her impact lasted. In the years that followed, racing lost several people close to her, including her team boss Jean Behra. She stepped away from professional competition in 1959, but she stayed connected to the sport for the rest of her life.

She helped open doors for others in motorsport and later served as Vice-President of the International Club of Former F1 Grand Prix Drivers.

When she died in January 2016 at age 89, tributes from across the racing world showed how much her presence had meant.

Filippis and fellow Maserati driver Luigi Villoresi

No woman competed in a Formula One race for another 15 years after de Filippis. That gap is its own kind of testament to how far ahead of her time she was, and how much courage it took to be there at all. 

"I was either courageous or reckless, or foolhardy," she once said. "Call it what you want. I just liked to go at full speed."

That is what the TERESA sandal carries forward.

TERESA is built for you — the woman who commits to a direction and sees it through. An adjustable rear strap keeps the fit secure through every kind of day: the long ones, the unpredictable ones, the ones that asked more of you than you expected when you got dressed that morning.

Named for a woman who showed up where she was not expected, and stayed the course.

Made for women who do the same.