Powell was born in Oxford and learned to drive at six years old, taking up competitive karting two years later. She attended The Cotswold School. In 2014 the BBC included her in its 100 Women series. From 2022 onwards she has served as Talent Identification and Development Mentor for the Alpine Academy, and she coaches and manages F1 Academy drivers including 2024 champion Abbi Pulling.
At 16, Powell entered the 2009 Michelin Formula Renault UK Championship, becoming the youngest female competitor in a Formula Renault race at that time. She broke new ground in 2010, setting a record at the fourth round of the Formula Renault BARC Championship by becoming the first woman to win a Formula Renault race in the UK, then going on to win the championship outright — the first woman ever to do so. Her race engineer during that title campaign was Sarah Shaw.
After a 2011 season back in Formula Renault UK that yielded no wins and a ninth-place finish in the standings, Powell stepped away from single-seaters before returning to the category in 2014 with FRD Motorsport in the International Class of the Asian Formula Renault Series. She took five class victories, four of which were also outright race wins, and won the class championship, adding a second Formula Renault title to her record.
In June 2012, after only two test days in the car, Status Grand Prix announced Powell would race in the 2012 GP3 Series. At Monza in September she finished eighth in the sprint race, becoming the first female points scorer since the series began in 2010. She returned for a one-off appearance at Yas Marina in 2013 as a replacement for Melville McKee, finishing 19th in the feature race.
Unable to continue in GP3, Powell joined the F3 Cup in 2013 and also appeared at the opening round of the 2013 British Formula 3 season at Silverstone in a Dallara F306 run by Mark Bailey Racing. In the 2013 MotorSport Vision Formula Three Cup she finished second in the championship behind Alex Craven, winning five races including three of the first four.
In 2020 Powell competed in the Rookie Test following the Marrakesh ePrix, driving for Envision Virgin Racing alongside Nick Cassidy. She subsequently became the team's Simulator and Development Driver from the 2021-22 season onward. She took part in further rookie and pre-season women's tests in 2024 and 2025.
Powell was among the 18 women selected for the inaugural 2019 W Series championship. She took four podium finishes across the six races, including a victory at the season-ending race at Brands Hatch, and finished third in the championship.
She returned for the 2021 campaign with Racing X. At the Red Bull Ring she took pole position, set the fastest lap, led every lap, and won — the most dominant possible result. She finished the season as runner-up to Jamie Chadwick with three wins, five podiums, and 132 points. Moving to Click2Drive Bristol Street Motors Racing for 2022, she finished third in the standings again, this time with one win, four podiums, one pole position, and one fastest lap.
Powell joined the Sky Sports Formula 2 commentary team when the 2020 season resumed following COVID-19 delays. She has commentated at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and works for Whisper Entertainment's F1 coverage on Channel 4, as well as for F1 TV. She has been a co-commentator for F1 Academy since 2024.
Powell's string of firsts — first woman to win a Formula Renault race in the UK, first to win the championship outright, first to score GP3 points — came at a time when opportunities for women in top-level single-seater racing were extremely limited. Her dual career as a competitor and broadcaster, combined with her mentoring work inside the Alpine Academy, has placed her among the more influential figures in the broader effort to expand women's participation in motorsport.
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