Have Your Say: Can Women be Competitive in Modern Formula One Racing?

[Paul Jeffrey]

For our latest weekly 'Have Your Say' community question we touch on an often controversial and somewhat emotive topic - the potential for a female driver to enter and succeed in Formula One...

Female racing drivers are nothing new to motorsport, you just have to look at the impact made by Danica Patrick over in the world of IndyCar and NASCAR in the states, however the intake of women racing drivers in Formula One have been rather low over the years, with even fewer having made any meaningful impact on the timing sheets either during testing or official race weekend sessions.

Now we have had a female points scorer in Formula One, but you have to look all the way back to the 1975 when Italian Lella Lombardi secured a half point for sixth position in the tragically shortened Spanish Grand Prix after Rolf Stommelen lost his rear wing and the ensuing accident cost the life of five spectators following Stommelen's Embassy Hill vaulting the barriers and entering the spectator area.

With Lombardi having entered the history books as the only female points scoring entrant, and Desiré Wilson having wrapped up a British Aurora F1 series race win at Brands Hatch, the remaining three official race entering females failed to score another top six finish in a combined 29 attempted starts (15 actual starts).

In more recent years we have seen a number of test / reserve and development roles for women in Formula One, most notable of which are DTM regular Susie Wolff who held a testing role at Williams and Carmen Jorda, who had a short stay in an official capacity at the now defunct Lotus team.

In junior formulae and the world of touring car and GT racing more women than ever before are taking part and even running towards the front of the field, but can the same be achieved in Formula One, and will it happen in the near future?

The question I want to ask you all this week is this:

Can a female driver enter Formula One and compete at the very front of the field? If so, are we likely to see it happening in the next few years?

With marketing and the never ending search for a unique selling point still king within the sporting business of Formula One, a move to sign a competitive female driver could be a golden ticket for any Formula One team in the modern sport, and with many historic barriers removed in todays day and age the potential for a female driver in Formula One has never been higher. It will be interesting to see what our community think about the prospects of this happening within the sport in the near future..

Now this could be a potentially emotive topic so I urge you to remain sensible and respectful in the comments please...

 

[Benutzername]

The only possible argument against it could be the physical stress. In most classed that wont be a problem either i assume.
We hear that currebt F1 has stronger forces than before, a woman 'could' have a disadvantage at the end of the race.
Its human anatomy that women are not as strong as men (average).


I dont think this is a huge disadvantage because we are not talking about running or weight lifting or anything. It just could take more effort and could affect the concentration during the end of the race.


Putting this aside i see absolutely no problem.
They just have to drive fast enough.

The main problem why we dont dee that many females in motorsports is obviously that there are far more males interested in the sport.
In a youngster class, complete rookies, we had about 40 males and 1 female.

If there were more females trying there would be more reaching the professional level.

 

[Vapir]

I'd argue they can. And if they're fast enough they'll get a chance. Simona Di Silvestro comes to mind having had a couple of really good 4th place finishes in indycar if I remember that correctly. I sure hope we'll see them get a seat soon

 

[Joseph Wright]

I think it would be great to the sport to have females enter Formula 1. We are currently living in a world where males dominate every sport, and I think if females had the chance to enter this series, it would allow them to prove that they are just as fast as the men. Why does the sport have to be dominated by one gender? We are moving forward and stepping closer and closer to equality between the genders, yet sports still lags behind.

If there were more females trying there would be more reaching the professional level.

There is just not enough promotion being given to females to encourage them to join the sport. All they know is that males as the predominate gender when it comes to sports, and that they have little to no chance to getting through. Just look at Susie, she was perfect to step up to the plate when needed, but the team chose a male driver instead, even though Susie proves she has the pace to race with those guys. Males are always chosen over females, which turns them away from entering the sport.

 

[Akra]

Yes. But the problem is deeper than motorsport. Girls are fine in karting but often lose interest in their teens. My oldest daughter used to love motor racing but lost interest when she got to puberty. At the end of the day, society conditions boys to be tough and lad like and enjoy football and cars and be manly, and conditions girls to like girly things and pink. So even if motorsport was 100% inclusive to all, it is fighting against an entire society that is conditioning everybody (including me, I'm not immune) to certain ways

Then motor racing itself can he particularly hostile to women. Grid girls are a good example of simply using women as a prop, something to look good. If that's the place we've decided women have in motorsport then it's always going to be seen as a male dominated sport, which will reduce the number of women at an early stage, which then reduces the chances of one being successful. Its pretty awkward as a father to try to explain to your 8 year old why there's women being used as a props but not driving.

Women can be as good as any man. But it's a simple numbers game. There's a lot less women than men so therefore they have far less chance. The reason there is less women is not just motorsport fault, it's society as a whole. It is improving but it will take decades.

I also fear this thread will turn into every other thread about this topic and we'll just have rampant sexism and some childish comments. But we'll see.

 

[Benutzername]

I think it would be great to the sport to have females enter Formula 1. We are currently living in a world where males dominate every sport, and I think if females had the chance to enter this series, it would allow them to prove that they are just as fast as the men. Why does the sport have to be dominated by one gender? We are moving forward and stepping closer and closer to equality between the genders, yet sports still lags behind.

There is just not enough promotion being given to females to encourage them to join the sport. All they know is that males as the predominate gender when it comes to sports, and that they have little to no chance to getting through. Just look at Susie, she was perfect to step up to the plate when needed, but the team chose a male driver instead, even though Susie proves she has the pace to race with those guys. Males are always chosen over females, which turns them away from entering the sport.

If a female is faster i guarentee you that a team will pick the female over a male driver.
It even would get more publicity

 

[Joseph Wright]

Grid girls

WE NEED GRID BOYS!!

 

[mantasisg]

Much less interest in racing among females, much less talents eventually. And in simracing too, I don't know any competitive simracing girl or woman.

 

[Boby Kim]

Well lets check:
Two arms: CHECK
Two legs: CHECK
Breasts: Shouldn't be a problem as most man also have breasts
Another "Ahum" between the legs: not a problem
So why not? The only thing i do not understand (Take Danika Patrick) how the hell do they put all the hair in that helmet

 

[Benutzername]

WE NEED GRID BOYS!!

Grid Boys for women, grid girls for men.

Tadaa

 

[Akra]

WE NEED GRID BOYS!!

Completely agree. WEC actually does. It has grid people, dressed in normal clothes, holding the flags. They're all models but at least it's equal.

If you want to put it in perspective how ridiculous grid girls are, imagine replacing all grid girls with male models. Either topless or in skin tight lycra. Fans would lose their sh*t and say it would stop men watching. Well that's how it looks to a lot of women.

 

[Joseph Wright]

The only thing i do not understand (Take Danika Patrick) how the hell do they put all the hair in that helmet

I think I know!

Grid Boys for women, grid girls for men.

Tadaa

You've done it!

 

[Ricoow]

Males are always chosen over females, which turns them away from entering the sport.

Marketing wise, they should choose a female (with proven speed and capabilities). Its a huge publicity generator, a lot of eyes will be on her for the first couple of races and then again when she is fighting for points. By the end of the season that effect will have worn off and it will have become normal to have a female driver in the field, but they should have taken the chance with Susie when they could. (Both sport and marketing wise)

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

Just look at Susie, she was perfect to step up to the plate when needed, but the team chose a male driver instead, even though Susie proves she has the pace to race with those guys

Actually I'd strongly argue against this. Susie was a great ambassador for the sport but on pace she wasn't anywhere near good enough for a drive. Simply put she had dozens and dozens of male drivers who were far, far better than her. I'd actually go so far as to say that being a female put her in the position she was in rather than her actual talent. This is coming from someone who actually likes her too! - Just look at her DTM career for proof.

Now we had a very talented couple of females in Ginetta Juniors in recent years who's names just escape me atm, but they kind of disappeared in recent times which is a shame.

 

[Filip Carlén]

Shitty quality on the video, but well said by Ramona Karlsson at 00:45

 

[Joseph Wright]

she wasn't anywhere near good enough for a drive.

I'll just leave this here

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

I also fear this thread will turn into every other thread about this topic and we'll just have rampant sexism and some childish comments. But we'll see.

No it won't, I have faith in our community to respond maturely and in a sensible fashion I thought long and hard about if I should post this one or not, but in the end I'm trusting everyone to be constructive and have a proper debate on an interesting topic, rather than descend into silly little child comments

 

[Joseph Wright]

No it won't, I have faith in our community to respond maturely and in a sensible fashion I thought long and hard about if I should post this one or not, but in the end I'm trusting everyone to be constructive and have a proper debate on an interesting topic, rather than descend into silly little child comments

We also have a report button in the bottom left if things do take a turn for the worse! Remember to use it and don't retaliate!

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

I'll just leave this here

No man, he was amazing but just never quite showed his true ability. Nothing at all to do with his $35m yearly budget

 

[Angus Martin]

It's not a question of can women race. Their shouldn't be a difference, if one day there's a women with the talent of Hamilton for example, then of course she'd drive. F1 is the best of the best, there's no point having female drivers in your team if they're not fast.