The hype pre-dates her racing career. Seemed to originate from a video shot by Jann Mardenborough, in which she was driving an F3 car at 11 years old.
I don't think it was ever undoubtedly proved there was cheating - apart from tyre irregularities in Danish F4 for which she was penalised. The Euroformula Open rules allowed a minimum weight reduction for female racers, which was revised during the season and led to her dad withdrawing her from the series.
The cheating allegations came from her brief sojourn into USF4, when she turned up for the first race of the year, went fastest in practice, and then promptly disappeared from the series. It's never been explained why she pulled out, apart from an apparent disagreement between Hideki Noda and Jay Howard. There was speculation that something dodgy was going on, but no-one has ever come forward to explain it.
What is certain is that Hideki Noda appears to very much be a helicopter parent!
Edited by Frood, 10 January 2024 - 17:07.