In May 2026, an 11-year-old from Srinagar lined up in Thessaloniki against an older, mostly male field. Then she won.

Atiqa Mir is one of several Indian heritage racers climbing the motorsport ladder right now. Together, they are changing who gets to dream about Formula 1. No Indian woman has driven an F1 car before. These Indian heritage racers are the reason that sentence may not hold forever.

Their stories stretch from Himachal Pradesh to Singapore. However, they share one thing. Each of them races in a paddock where few girls came before.

Here are the Indian heritage racers to watch, and the pathways that carry them.

Atiqa Mir Beats Older Fields in Karting

Atiqa grew up in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. She started professional karting at seven. Her father, Asif Mir, raced in Formula Asia and became India’s first national karting champion.

Her rise has been quick. In 2025, F1 Academy picked her for its Discover Your Drive programme. She became the first Indian and the first Asian chosen, and one of only three girls worldwide.

Soon after, she signed with AKCEL GP, a UAE karting team affiliated with F1 Academy. Business backing followed as well. Raise, led by founder Pravin Jadhav, committed to her journey around the same time.

This season built on that start. First, Mir became the first Indian to podium in the Champions of the Future Academy’s European leg. Next, she won at Circuit 27 in Thessaloniki.

The rankings also back her up. She is currently the top-ranked female in the OK-N Junior class of the FIA International Karting ranking. Moreover, she is the youngest Indian with two top-10 finishes at the FIA European Karting Championship.

Her father keeps the praise simple. He told ANI she is “competing against men and beating them.” No other Indian heritage racer in this story is younger.

In August, JK Tyre added her to its racing programme. That programme has already helped Narain Karthikeyan, Karun Chandhok, Armaan Ebrahim and Kush Maini reach global stages. So Mir now follows a proven route.

Kareen Kaur Takes Her Punjabi Roots to the Grid

Kareen Kaur races from Singapore, and her family roots are Punjabi. She started karting at nine. Then she climbed through the cadet, junior and senior classes.

Her 2025 season proved her pace. She finished third in the ROK Cup Singapore Championship and fourth in the ROK Cup Asia Championship. In both, she earned recognition as the top female driver.

Next came cars. On her Indian F4 debut at Kari Motor Speedway, she scored points. As a result, she became the youngest Southeast Asian girl to score in an FIA F4 race. The FIA-certified Indian F4 Championship also serves Asian and Indian heritage racers chasing the global single-seater ladder.

This year brought a setback. Organisers cancelled F4 South East Asia for 2026. However, Kaur kept moving. At 16, she now contests the full Formula Trophy Malaysia season with Evans GP Academy.

Her path still carries friction. Singapore has no permanent formula circuit, so testing means overseas trips during the school holidays. Meanwhile, she juggles classes and volleyball.

Results are only part of her goal. She told Elle India she wants to “inspire other female drivers to take up motorsport.”

Aishwarya Pissay Takes Aim at Dakar

Aishwarya Pissay comes from Bengaluru and races on two wheels. She discovered racing at 18. Within three years, she had won the women’s category of the 2017 National Rally Championship.

Her trophy shelf has grown fast since. In 2019, she became the first Indian motorsport athlete, male or female, to win a world title. She took the FIM Bajas World Cup. She is the only world champion among the Indian heritage racers in this story.

Then she moved to the global stage. In 2025, she became the first woman from Asia to compete in the FIM World Rally-Raid Championship, entering as a privateer backed by TVS Racing. She then won her class in Portugal, covering more than 2,000 kilometres across Portugal and Spain.

Her record at home keeps growing too. Pissay has won a record 12th National Rally Championship, including six titles in a row. She also became the first Asian woman to complete the Rallye du Maroc, taking silver in her category.

Now Dakar 2027 is the target. She wants to become the first Indian and Asian woman to race and finish it on two wheels.

“It’ll belong to every girl in India who was ever told she couldn’t.” – Aishwarya Pissay, Indian rally-raid rider

Mira Erda Builds Paths for Indian Heritage Racers

Mira Erda links the older generation of Indian heritage racers to the newer one. She started karting in 2010, aged nine, on her family’s track in Vadodara, Gujarat.

Erda became the first Indian woman to race in the Euro JK series. She also became the first Indian woman to take an F4 podium.

Now she coaches the next wave. Erda’s Racing Academy trains more than 100 children every year, with sites in Vadodara and Ahmedabad. In addition, she hosted a Red Bull clinic for around 15 girls from across motorsport.

“Since I was nine, all I cared about was speed.” – Mira Erda, racing driver and founder of Erda’s Racing Academy

Doubt followed her early on. Some people even criticised her father for funding her career. Today, she builds paths for other girls.

The Men Already on the Ladder

Girls are not climbing alone. Arvid Lindblad races for Visa Cash App Racing Bulls in 2026. He is only the third driver of Indian origin to start an F1 race. Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok came before him.

Lindblad’s mother, Anita Ahuja, is British-Indian. He races under the British flag but wears an Indian flag on his helmet. In March 2026, he drove an RB8 in a Delhi showrun and waved the tricolour.

He told Red Bull he is “very, very proud” of his Swedish and Indian heritage. Currently, he is also the only Indian heritage racer starting F1 races.

Meanwhile, Kush Maini gives Indian heritage races a second name near the F1 paddock. The Bangalore-born driver is Alpine BWT’s reserve driver, and the first Indian in 13 years with an official F1 team role. He races his fourth Formula 2 season with ART Grand Prix. As of late August 2026, he remained in contention for the best-ever F2 championship finish by an Indian driver.

Every Indian flag on a helmet widens the picture of who belongs in the sport.

What These Indian Heritage Racers Need Next

Talent is not the shortage. Money is. A full Indian F4 season costs an estimated €120,000. Mira Erda says sponsorship remains one of the biggest challenges in Indian motorsport. Even world champion Pissay entered the Portugal round as a privateer.

Access can change that. The Indian F4 Global Shootout offers scholarships towards a seat. Moreover, the series has launched international girls too. Alba Larsen scored points and took a best-rookie podium there in 2024. She then joined the Ferrari Driver Academy for 2026.

So the pipeline works when funding and opportunity meet. These Indian heritage racers need more of both.

Atiqa Mir cannot drive on a public road for another seven years. She already beats grids of older boys. For girls watching from karting tracks across India and beyond, the ladder now has familiar faces on every rung.