this. man doris grandma mid-term arrives to. join the ranks to take on her journey back to freedom lose in our interactive documentary. and bring you tame returns home on d w dot com barring a tang's. sophia flourish has set out to become formula one world champion. the first woman world champion. but then a crash. you know that anyone who's known me long enough knows i won't let something like that get me down.

she trains hard every day. in june twenty eighth seem the season had just begun. it's with them you three is very demanding you drive for half an hour you're exposed to intense full service you have to be fit to push this car to its limits i trained to do that but the thing is. it's quite a few need strong legs to hit the brakes with one hundred twenty kilos on curves the neck muscles play a major part because of the g. forces in the kurds and when breaking. in motor sports women and men are in direct competition with the pro you have to train more than the man but if we want we can do it as well. when she gets into her mother's car in munich sophia has to ride shotgun she's not allowed to take the wheel on city streets yet even though she's been driving since she was four years old. i have

confidence i know sophia can do it but many factors are involved someone else could run into her but today nothing that bad has happened to sophia. nothing where i'd say oh my god you're not getting into a car any more it's business admits. it was on a plank of a flourish is no stranger to this kind of anxiety her husband sophia's father used to be active in motor sports. neuberger in september twenty eighth it was a fierce first season in formula three she was just seventeen she missed the first days of training in winter because she had to study for her final high school exams she started in the series ten weeks later. she had to make up for lost time it was the first time sophia had taken the new car out in the rain.

first came the qualifiers the driver completing the fastest lap would start the next day's race and in front. she was number eighteen in the starting grid for the first of the weekend's three races. the us so it was so tight i've never been that close to the others but we made it we're going to root. for something. in the box the team give the car the finishing touches before the race. meanwhile sofia has time for p.r. appearances none of her male formula three competitors have a bad word to say about her not publicly anyway why. not some men ask why you in this sport and you'll never make it not because your badge but

because women never do that when you hear the things i heard and in ten it's hard because you start thinking that way and it hurts me. but you grow and build your self-confidence. which is very important in this sport. because you have to fight your way through against the men and keep your head held high home and hope. sophia is one of the only women driving in formula three and her team is the only one with a female mechanic shop on funded drives the trucks and looks after the tires she used to drive in the races herself. you have to compete you have to prove yourself each time you have to do a step. it was not like. the spotlights were on you know but they were criticizing you if you made one mistake it was. a little mistake they

made a big mistake or a major mistake and everybody was just talking bad about you. even before the race starts sophie is giving it her full concentration. her mother and sister are in the sands to cheer her on. sophia gets off to a good start. the first crash and sophia can pass or you. go all. your. well. being in the top ten under some points. but then on the fourth lap a technical failure the race is as good as over for sophia. and so far. the disappointment is overwhelming for team boss it's fun i must for it as well. as with most of this is motorsports it has to hurt now

and then but i hope that's all for now. another day another opportunity she has to make it this time racing is not only about fame and points but also about money lots of it for one formula three season a driver has to have a budget of some one million euros most of it comes from sponsors and if that's not enough from parents but the sponsors want their money's worth. sophia started at the back of the grid over took one position after the next but she got too aggressive while passing and nearly caused a collision. her father alex followed the race from the box he watched the stewards impose a drive through penalty making her lose almost twenty seconds sophia fell back to last place and lost her chance for a good outcome but she kept trying just the same. this goodness.

she doesn't. want to see. afterwards she showed no trace of frustration once behind the others sophia could open up she drove one of the fastest laps to her team it was hard proof that in terms of ability sophia can keep up with the best i. understand and everybody was happy that i was faster than my teammates but still wasn't placed but it's the first shia. you wasn't even the steward said i should hold onto my aggressiveness they didn't know women could be so aggressive i thought yes. we had a good weekend even if there was bad luck but that's part of it. two weeks later it was time for the next race. back in munich sofia finally had some time to get

together with friends. other governors or even once a feel was in school she devoted almost every free minute to racing now that she's graduated she can get serious oh. i haven't been able to accept many birthday party invitations because i've always been on the road somewhere in europe. or i wanted to see these so that movie and it hurts when i can't go. but then i do this sport because i'm having fun so i have to make sacrifices i inspect the scot that's what. the highlight of the season was the macau grand prix in november twenty eighth that weekend sophia hope to prove that she could lead the field. if. everything went well until the decisive race on sunday a crash no fault of her own slammed her into a wall at two hundred seventy kilometers an hour.

sophia came out with two broken vertebrae and bone splinters in her spinal cord she had to be operated on in the car. four weeks later she had her first training eight weeks later she started getting her neck muscles back into shape. in february twenty nine hundred four months after the accident sophia was back on the track by then she was world famous with over two hundred thousand followers on instagram and television appearances her team rented a racetrack in monza for some test it was sophia's first time at the wheel since the crash. and that's an issue the sort of course now i'm that girl with the crash this year i want to change that all be the go with the crashing but also the success. you know . anyone who's known me long enough knows i won't let something like that get me

down make me think about quitting that's why my mum's never said anything. of course she'll be worried now i have to discuss it with her if i go back to macau and i definitely want to but she trusts me and it can hardly get worse. that accident was the worst that's happened and still i'm back here driving one hundred sixty. one of. the final preparations. she had specialist check or concentration and reaction times everything was back to normal. and. sophia's car was totalled in macau her team had to build a new one. over

two way radio the race engineers could hear how emotional some feel was. actually at the moment everything looks pretty ok physically she's ok as he's really happy to be driving in the car again smiling and laughing and really enjoying. the most important question physically everything ok.

he was how was it. cool or close really also to be back in the driver's seat. me goosebumps got never had a sensation like that it's so much fun it's great and i'm happy. that's what i've been training so hard for these hundred days. i'm hard to let go. so. that sophia will be starting the new season and made a pledge play the lead.

player. in luxury on the rests in an s.u.v. the. car shows old and new version of the client. and entering the next generation the mazda three with new engines for the moment she's driving from. trying to the next on d. w. . take it personally the one

stories that made him so special are you ready. for the truth. thirty minutes on d w. look closely. listen carefully. don't suit your needs to do good.

discover to. subscribe to the documentary on you tube. fellow and welcome to drive with a b w motor magazine this week and elegant way again for the long haul the audi a six i bought. a monster three enters its next generation.