The 33-year-old finished fifth in the monobob at the Swiss Championships in St Moritz yesterday.

"Since quite some time I always felt inspired watching the Olympic Games," de Silvestro wrote on Instagram.

"A few years ago, I started thinking how could I achieve this dream.

"I looked at all the sports and came to the conclusion that, with my racing background, bobsleigh could be the sport to get me there.

"So last summer I decided that if I wanted to achieve this dream, I would need to give it a go this winter.

"Since December it has been a busy racing off season with getting the grips of sliding down the ice tracks before the racing season starts again."

The dual Swiss-Italian national has enjoyed a diverse racing career.

She has competed in IndyCar for several years before moving to Australia to drive in Supercars for the factory-backed Nissan squad.

De Silvestro spent three years in Australia before returning to Europe for the 2020 season as a factory Porsche GT driver, as well as Porsche's reserve driver in Formula E.

She also competed in last year's Indy 500 as a one-off start for Paretta Autosport.

"Fun first race outside of a race car," de Silvestro posted after her first monobob race.

"Starts need some improvement.

"Sprint training here we come."

Melanie Hasler represented Switzerland in the monobob at Beijing 2022, finishing seventh in an event making its first appearance on the Olympic programme and won by the United States' Kaillie Humphries.

In the two-woman bob, Hasler teamed up with Nadja Pasternack to finish sixth as Germany's Laura Nolte and Deborah Levi raced to the gold medal.

Switzerland was also represented by Martina Fontanive and Irina Strebel, who finished 20th and last.