“I’ve always loved going fast,” race car driver Lindsay Brewer says. “Since I was two years old, I would push on my mom’s thumb on a jet ski to go faster.” These days, Brewer is driving her own need for speed behind the wheel of a Lamborghini, no less, competing against just a handful of women who have reached the top levels of motorsports.
But she’s also driving a movement that extends far beyond the confines of a racetrack: the push for more women to realize that they have a place within sports that have, for far too long, been considered a man’s world.
The road to racing success has been far from smooth for Brewer, not least because there are so few resources being made available to women attempting to break into motorsports. It’s a journey that she has had to fuel herself from the start — and one that has only been made possible, somewhat ironically, by her ability to reach the pinnacle of success in a very contrasting industry: modeling.
Having made a major mark on the racing industry at a young age, she started her career on a go-karting track (as so many Formula 1 drivers do), where she was competing against the likes of Lance Stroll and Logan Sargeant.
But just as she was making the move from go-karts to cars, Brewer hit a major bump in the road when her funding fell through, leaving her forced to drop out of the sport altogether.
“My family wasn’t able to financially support me, so I ended up going to university, where I got my business degree in 2019,” she says. “But I was sad because I was like, ‘Is this it? Am I not going to be able to race again?’ It was four years of my life that I wasn’t doing what I loved, because it is such an expensive sport. But then, fortunately, I was able to grow my social media following and use that to partner with brands and I started racing again in 2021.”
Her social media superstardom allowed Brewer to raise enough money to fund her career on the racetrack, but it also saw her treated like an outsider. She was a “wannabe” who her detractors decided had no place in the sport because she was a woman who proudly embraced her femininity, both online and in racing.
“It does make people take me less seriously,” she says. “It’s like, ‘Oh, here’s this influencer who wants to be a race car driver.’ But little do they know, I’ve been racing since I was 11. That came first.”
“I think what people don’t realize is that modeling and social media have allowed me to get back in the seat and race. I don’t have the luxury to just not have social media, drop off the face of the earth, race cars, and not worry about it.”
“I don’t like being fit into a certain box. I can be very feminine and very girly, and still be a badass driver. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.
In essence, femininity is — quite literally — the thing that fuels her career, a career that involves high-speed racing, makeup, and photoshoots.
And while some might view those two industries as being polar opposites, Brewer insists there is a synergy between them, noting that finding her confidence on the racetrack and her confidence in front of the camera both come down to the same ideal: look good, feel good, do good.
“My dad used to be like, ‘Lindsay, why are you wearing makeup at the track? This isn’t a fashion show.’ And I think that’s just a dumb guy mentality, but even my dad had that mindset,” she says. “But they don’t understand, when I look my best, I feel good, and it gives me that confidence to go and win a race. If you feel good, you’ll do better in whatever you’re doing. Confidence is key.”
Brewer describes her makeup like a “mask” — one that helps her to face whatever challenge lies ahead with cool confidence. And one that only requires a handful of products, depending on the day.
The key weapon in her beauty arsenal? A killer lip combo, namely a slick of the Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk Matte Revolution Lipstick ($35) and the Rhode Peptide Lip Treatment in Watermelon Slice ($18) — a favorite among F1 drivers.
Of course, racing brings with it a whole new list of beauty challenges, from the hours spent in the sun to the helmet hair, which Brewer admits is an ongoing struggle, but she’s found some essentials that have helped to tackle both. The Peter Thomas Roth Max Mineral Tinted Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 45 ($38) serves as a sun protectant and a foundation while she’s at the track, while K18’s Molecular Repair Mask ($75) and Molecular Repair Hair Oil ($65) help to keep her hair under control.
As for those who dare to question if her love of beauty might slow her down? She’s ready to leave them in her dust.
“I don’t like being fit into a certain box. I can be very feminine and very girly, and still be a badass driver. It doesn’t have to be one or the other,” she says. “I’ll always wear my makeup, no matter what.”
Charlie Lankston is a freelance beauty, fashion, and lifestyle writer and media strategist based in New York City, having relocated to the US in 2014 from her home in London. Charlie spent 10 years working at DailyMail.com, where she oversaw the website’s style, beauty, fashion, and lifestyle content. Charlie also appears as an on-air royal and celebrity correspondent.
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