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

[Matheus Machado]

Grid Boys for women, grid girls for men.

Tadaa

And drones for apache helicopters!

 

[Matheus Machado]

Women can do just as well if not better than men in any sport that doesn't rely on physical attributes purely. Racing is even better for them as they tend to be lighter than men, so yeah, why not?

It is just a matter of whether there is enough sponsor support for it, since it is necessary to get directly or indirectly into F1. And considering there aren't many sponsors that needs a woman figure to feature their product it might be a big difficulty.

 

[Valrys]

The problem is... Women have special periods, you know? What if a race correlates with that thing. Would be painful to drive. They can definitely race in F1, but for the top? I highly doubt it.

If Mark Webber can race while vomiting into his helmet, Johnny Herbert can race while having to walk on crutches and Niki Lauda can race a few weeks after almost burning to death, I'm sure any woman good enough to reach the top levels of motorsport can handle some period pain. Adrenaline is a powerful thing.

 

[Ari Antero]

Even in 40-50 years ago, while these women were great women drivers, they still weren't as capable as their male counter parts. Still proves that you match a Patsy vs a Graham, or a Mouton vs a Rohrl, and guess what happens, she gets dominated. Again, proves my point that your projection of "equality" mean nothing when nature takes its course.

Can you explain to me why Danica Patrick was on pole in Indy, 2007 and how is it possible that, One year later, in April 2008, Danica became the first woman to win a major-league open-wheel race in a North American series with her victory in the IndyCar Series Indy Japan 300 at the Twin Ring Motegi oval in Japan.
Why and how could Taru Rinne qualify for an astounding 2nd 1989 in Hockenheim where she led the race for a majority of the laps, taking a most exceptional 7th place out of 36 starters, 27 finishers—all men.

Is it really:that "projection of "equality" mean nothing when nature takes its course"
Some type of motor racing perhaps but your claim is no rule that`s for sure and to be honest I would love to see that instead of Sebastion Vettel raise hes index finger that in one day some female could also raise finger in the air on the top of the F1 podium which is not the index finger - I bet you know which finger i mean.

 

[ears]

It's a while since I've watched the ITV4 touring car coverage but I vividly remember the commentators on the support races referring to any female competitors as 'our lady driver'.

The sport is generally pretty mysogynistic - grid girls, lines of girls in skirts and tight fitting clothes bowing to winning drivers on the walk to the podium.

As is its fan base. It wasn't long ago I read a benefit of premium membership of this site being access to a 'pit babes thread'.

If you Google Suzie Stoddart / Wolff it's not exactly images relating to her driving ability that come up first is it?

I have a daughter and, danger apart, I still hope she does something more more meaningful with her life, in a discipline / career where she will be offered more respect.

 

[Ari Antero]

The problem is... Women have special periods, you know? What if a race correlates with that thing. Would be painful to drive.

This is one of the most hilarious post`s I have ever seen. You seem to lack experience of the opposite sex and as father of 4 girls, two competing in the top level and also having a wife who is a former athlete this is no problem at all

 

[ears]

So out of interest I just went and looked at the 'pit babes thread' in the premium members forum.

Anyone who has access, just go and look at the last few pages, its discussion of 'cameltoes', asses and so on.

Until the Top Gear mentality is gone, there's going to be far less desire amongst women to be involved in the sport

Maybe women prefer it that way. They'll continue to run the world while all the little boys drive around in clrcles and giggle at photos of anatomy.

 

[Akra]

Charlie Kimbal can race with diabetes, and Mark Webber can throw up in his helmet and continue, but if a woman has a period she can't? Let's get a bloody grip here.

 

[UMC 22]

I think they can absolutely be competitive in F1, just like they can do most other jobs just as well as men. Saw a few posts about the physicality of the sport, but that's rubbish. A woman can use a gym just as well as a man and develop the strength necessary to handle the car.

Other than the fact that F1 is both male dominated and male orientated right now, I think the reason we don't see more women in F1 cars is that there simply isn't enough of them in motorsport. There are thousands and thousands of racing drivers worldwide, but just 20 of them can be F1 drivers at any one time. Even if women accounted for 5% of all racing drivers (which they probably don't right now), it would be near impossible for them to be exceptional enough and stand out enough to get noticed compared to the other 95%. Even if they did, they would then need money and sponsorship, which I doubt would be forthcoming given the nature of F1 at the moment.

So yeah, until there's a huge influx of female racing drivers and a change of mentality in F1, I can't see another woman joining the grid.

 

[Ari Antero]

Bernie is not longer owner of F1 circus and there has been huge changes how the new owners are taking care of the fans and also drivers are more accessible to the press.
I think within next 5-10 years there is going to be one female competing in F1.

 

[Neilski]

women have some traits that would be advantageous in motorsport, and some that would be disadvantageous

If you compare the "average man" to the "average woman" then you'll always get the same answer - e.g. the man will be taller and stronger, and the other variations you mention such as reaction time, depth perception etc. will also be quite stable over time. So you can reasonably state that an "average woman" will never be stronger than an "average man", even if we wait a century.

That's not at all relevant here though, because we're talking about a sport in which only the very very few have even a chance of being competitive. So you can tear up whatever you think you know about the statistical distribution of characteristics - that data, however accurate it may be for the main body of the human population, just ain't relevant when your sample pool is 0.01% of people.

Who can say, for example, whether the top 0.01% of women don't perhaps have better depth-perception than the top 0.01% of men? Do you really think we have that data?

There will always be exceptional people, of either sex - exceptionally quick-reacting, strong, whatever you like. They're just so damn rare that you need to have a lot of them trying something to find the ones who are so special they can rise all the way to the top. We don't have that yet for women in motorsport.

 

[Akra]

Just to add another angle to this discussion. - Damon Hill said that in his opinion, about one in every ten people could be a good racing driver, but they'd never have the chance, money, time or commitment to actually do it. If Damon thinks a tenth of the population of the world could do it given the chance, then suddenly it brings that level down a bit.

 

[Kakusso]

Motorsport is somehow related to dominance. Woman are less interested than man about dominance.
Kind regards to Michelle Mouton a great female rally driver.

 

[BlindDeadMacSlow]

Louise Hamilton
Sabrina Vettel
Nicola Hulkenburg
Kim Räikkönen
Maxine Verstappen
Filippa Massa

I like it -

 

[Ghoults]

Everybody agrees that physiologically men are superior to women. Men can run faster, jump higher and lift bigger weights. It is absolute scientific fact but it is not decisive thing in motorracing. F1 drivers nor any other drivers are pushed to their absolute limits of human endurance or power. Not anymore at least. But back when wrc cars raced group b cars those things were brutal cars. Long long days of driving. And yet we had michelle mouton who almost won the championship. That is about as hard as motorsport can be and a woman already proved it she can do it.

To put it plainly women are powerful enough to drive f1 cars. You don't need to be superman fit to drive f1 cars. Not even close. You need to be fit to be even able to drive f3 car but being fit is enough. It is not a marathon or weight lifting competition.

There is a limit how much physical power and endurance you need to be able to do a full f1 race in humid and hot conditions. And that limit is not very high. Nobody is blacking out because of g-forces unless you run high speed high banked ovals. The thing about the g-forces is the duration and amount of breaks. Not the peaks. Long duration and no breaks = drivers passing out. High peak g-forces = nobody passes out (unless we go ridiculously high). Also there have been tests where men and women are compared how they can handle g-forces. The result? No difference:
http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a177986.pdf

If we were talking about soldiers or firemen then gender would make a difference. Because men have stronger bones and more muscle then having that extra level of performance can make a life or death difference when you need to move wounded team mate away from danger. For this same reason you want firemen to be men and fit. No matter how hard a woman trains she will not be able to carry as much weight as a man. It is just physiology.

But those are situations where all that matters is absolute peak performance of the human body. F1 nor motorsports is not one those situations. F1 is about being above certain level and that level is not very high.

 

[whip]

i dont see why not

unless there is some brain biology where girls have worse spacial awareness then men (judging by my other half parking this may be true)

 

[TrevorGreenfield]

In addition to making history for the manufacturer, Legge made personal history, earning her first career WeatherTech Championship race victory.

“It’s a testament to the team,” Legge said. “The team gave us a car that was capable of winning. The team has really been working hard between each race. We’ve been strong at points, but today we put it together. Today was the longest hour of my life watching Andy drive. I was telepathically talking to him. It was harder to watch than actually drive. Thank you to everyone who has given us a chance to put together this car and this ride.”

There were two women on the GTD podium at Detroit. Christina Nielsen partnered with Balzan to take second. Nielsen and Balzan are defending WeatherTech Championship GTD champions.

 

[Terry Rock]

In answer to the question...I don't see why not.
They're women out there landing some of the most difficult aircraft to fly
in zero/zero conditions, so the lack of brain power and focus argument is silly at best.
Shirley Muldowney did 'better than okay' in Top-Fuel years ago.
The Force girl do fine today in their discipline.
The issue of a lack of women in F1, is clearly...the lack of seats vs the number of folks in the wing.
Those already competing in other OW categories simply do not get the exposure because of their sheer number (lower).
It affected Susie Wolff. It'll affect Carmen Jorda and girls for some time to come.
The irony; By having so few women in OWR, most girls will continue to show little interest...viewing it as a dead-end.
The minute one gets there, the female audience and participation interest will sky-rocket.

 

[Grand Tourist]

You almost made it you were ALMOST there. Then you reverted back to the typical leftist, gynocentric, mindset that this mythical cabal is somehow keeping women down, everyone is equal, and nature is irrelevant. Ironically, you look at the the cabal created by women and their feminist rhetoric, and you realize that no one is keeping anyone down. In fact, it may be more affluent women keeping the less "fortunate" women down.

Also Djokovic would destroy Venus, even at her ultra-enhanced state. So you're getting into a loosing argument. Or just picking a fight for no apparent reason only to realize that I was completely right and you're completely wrong (and off-base). Just like an Ayrton, Schummi, Hamilton, or Vettel, would destroy the best female racer.

You seem to be all over the place and not making any sense with whatever point you're making as well. In one sense, you realize the need to separate men from women in sports. Then in another realm you realize that even in a sport that could be equalized mechanically, the women fail to achieve the same results as the men. Which is it?

Is that due to that ol', "boogyman", cabal feminist go on about? Or is it due to natural strengths that men have over women in these kinds of events (and sports in general)?

I am not picking a fight, at all!!
Just gave my opinion.

Mod edit, do not do this in this thread please, consider this a warning
do not verbally attack another member please..

 

[Rob Every]

Why do people keep harping on about the physical side? It bears no relevance whatsoever to a womans ability to drive a racing car or any type of motor car for that matter.

OK if you are talking about physical contact sports like soccer, rugby, or sports where physical prowess is in the top area like athletics or tennis then fair enough.

But this is driving, yes you need to be fit, but you don't need bulk, power, muscles. You need stamina, concentration, mental strength above all. Not the normal physical elements that prevent women usually competing against men.

In Equestrianism you need to be fit, have the same powers of concentration and fitness as men and it works perfectly in that sport, equality is 100% there. They use a tool to compete in as do racing drivers.

I see no validity whatsoever in the physical side of F1 being a barrier for women.

The issue is general interest of women in motorsport, same as ethnic minorities. You didn't suddenly see million of extra black golfers because Tiger was doing well, or thousands of mixed race kids picking up karts because Lewis is doing well. Because to them they are just sportsmen, race does not come into it. Culturally women are not interested, same as black kids are not interested in golf.

And the same would be the case if in 5 years we have a female world champion. It would be her ability, mental toughness, stamina and racecraft that would win out, Nothing else, but it would not suddenly lead to an increase in female racing drivers, because there never has been and never will be the interest from them in competing.

Addnto those who mention sexism, grid girls. Get over yourselves, they get paid well, are not taken advantage of and are career glamour models earning good money a lot of the time. It's a career choice and is only demeaning to you, not them.