A woman has physiological advantages compared to men (less distance between heart and extremities - including brain - would be one), and as for strength it can be trained. The competitive part is based on will, talent, practice and last but not least chance, for both men and women. I'm sure there are women taxi drivers that have what it takes to be a champ but never had the key to get into motorsport. So I guess there's only one way to find out, no?
Have Your Say: Can Women be Competitive in Modern Formula One Racing?
- Thread starter Paul Jeffrey
- Start date
Both physically and mentally there is absolutely no reason why women should not be able to do it. All what is needed is an open-minded environment, good training, and sponsors willing to support their careers. Would rather see this sooner rather than later, so we can finally file this under: "Why did anyone ever question this?"
Chris
Premium
Of course women can be good enough to race in F1. They just need to be good enough 
I wouldn't want someone to be in F1 simply because of their gender. They should be there on merit.
Females are very much a minority when it comes to motorsport involvement and viewership, but it's growing... slowly. Eventually, there will be a female with enough talent, physical fitness and skill to competitively race in Formula One, and it'll be a fantastic day when it comes!
I wouldn't want someone to be in F1 simply because of their gender. They should be there on merit. Females are very much a minority when it comes to motorsport involvement and viewership, but it's growing... slowly. Eventually, there will be a female with enough talent, physical fitness and skill to competitively race in Formula One, and it'll be a fantastic day when it comes!
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Physicality: it's not so insignificant in fact, especially in F1 cars. There's a reason why Nigel Mansell collapsed. As a little kid, I remember wondering why some F1 drivers were competing (and winning) in the TV show "Superstars". Turns out that driving an F1 car under high G-load was actually the stuff of elite athletes, not couch potatoes - who knew!
The answer however should be "yes", generally - women can be competitive in motor racing, and on occasions they have been. There just aren't enough of them in the sport for the statistics to throw up the one in a million men like Schumacher/Senna/whoever.
I must agree with Paul by the way about Susie - even though I really wanted her to get a drive, she simply didn't earn it on merit. If anyone was going to give her a drive, it would have been Claire, right? Compare her racing history (e.g. check out Wikipedia) and tell me that she would even have made it to test driver if she hadn't had the PR factor of being a woman going for her.
Another example - Indy 500: while taking an interest in it, for obvious reasons, I noticed that Pippa Mann was on the grid. Hadn't heard of her, so I googled. Long story short: she clearly has talent but has never really shone, in any formula in which she has competed.
People are understandably keen to see women on the grid, and this being the case, a woman with talent will get the nod way before a man of equal talent. That's fair enough of course, but it gives people a lot of false hope of how close we are to having women in the top echelon on a routine basis. People say for example that Susie was "almost there", but when you look closely, she simply wasn't. I hate that that's how it is, but it's simply true. Despite being a bloody excellent driver (and no doubt massively better than most men), she's just not there.
The answer however should be "yes", generally - women can be competitive in motor racing, and on occasions they have been. There just aren't enough of them in the sport for the statistics to throw up the one in a million men like Schumacher/Senna/whoever.
I must agree with Paul by the way about Susie - even though I really wanted her to get a drive, she simply didn't earn it on merit. If anyone was going to give her a drive, it would have been Claire, right? Compare her racing history (e.g. check out Wikipedia) and tell me that she would even have made it to test driver if she hadn't had the PR factor of being a woman going for her.
Another example - Indy 500: while taking an interest in it, for obvious reasons, I noticed that Pippa Mann was on the grid. Hadn't heard of her, so I googled. Long story short: she clearly has talent but has never really shone, in any formula in which she has competed.
People are understandably keen to see women on the grid, and this being the case, a woman with talent will get the nod way before a man of equal talent. That's fair enough of course, but it gives people a lot of false hope of how close we are to having women in the top echelon on a routine basis. People say for example that Susie was "almost there", but when you look closely, she simply wasn't. I hate that that's how it is, but it's simply true. Despite being a bloody excellent driver (and no doubt massively better than most men), she's just not there.
TheReaper GT
Learning stuff, eating cookies. :D
The problem in motorsport in general is hardly at the teams side. Most female drivers struggle to collect sponsors which are, unfortunately, more important than talent for most teams. You have some awesome female gt drivers some as Christina Nielsen (IMSA GTD champion with Scuderia Corsa) are lucky to have a strong team and strong sponsor. But take a look at Ashley Freiberg, multiple wins at imsa on both PC and GTD. After an amazing 2015/2016 season, she struggled for almost an entire year to find sponsors. Now she takes part on some Porsche cup races and found a good team to race Lamborghini Super Troffeo in the US.
Yes they can. I've raced against plenty of girls in Karting, and there are a few who are finally coming up the ranks with decent promise behind them. The like Marta Garcia and Simona De Silvestro are the type of people we need in F1, to promote female drivers and show that women can get to F1 without being models for the team. People like Carmen Jorda, Giovanna Amati (who got the seat because she was dating Briatore) and arguably, Susie Wolff, are bad for female drivers. If De Silvestro had reached F1 in 2015, maybe we wouldn't be having this conversation because we would have at least 5 or 6 decent drivers on the path to F1.
It would be great to see female drivers in F1 but as mentioned above in previous posts I feel that they would have to dominate the lower categories to stand a chance. Whereas some lesser drivers could probably lever their way in with large money backing (possible for a female driver as well I guess but less likely).
The way I look at though is there are many superb female drivers in many other top categories around the world so being in F1 is not always achievable for them (in other words the money runs out), and the same could be said for countless male drivers as well.
When Danica reached Indycar it created a huge amount of interest and she certainly was talented enough in an Indycar (admittedly on the right day). I know things haven't gone very well for her in NASCAR though.
The way I look at though is there are many superb female drivers in many other top categories around the world so being in F1 is not always achievable for them (in other words the money runs out), and the same could be said for countless male drivers as well.
When Danica reached Indycar it created a huge amount of interest and she certainly was talented enough in an Indycar (admittedly on the right day). I know things haven't gone very well for her in NASCAR though.
Regarding strength.....hmmmm I doubt this as in every sport I know Women do not compete with the men and every record is inferior to the men's (going to be a few exceptions posted no doubt ).
Mental strength, yeah no real difference at all, some strong as hell women out there mentally (my mum for one!).
Lack of size and weight are an advantage in motorsports! So women score highly there, although many smaller men also take advantage of their lack of physical size (take Dani Pedrosa).
But The biggest hurdle for me regarding women is competitive desire, this is hard wired into most men and not in most women. My wife cannot understand why I get narked off at games and sports and tells me to "just stop"......WUUUT I say, because there's no WAY I can just stop! I keep going blindy until I collapse in a defeated heap or win.
And I disagree "society" forces the sexes in one direction or another, especially today when there are more than enough influences in alternative directions, yet still the majority of people go in the "mainstream" direction. My wife wasn't influenced by society at all, she's a Metalhead and hates pink, if someone wants to go in a direction they go in it. I fear the modern world with the SJWs upset when their girls want a barbie and their boys want a gun to play with <-- this DOES happen!!!
All I hope is when it happens we don't get the usual liberal "doing it for the girls" band wagoning bull. Sports people are in it for THEMSELVES. I can't do things that other men do, means sod all to me that they can do it and I can't. Hamilton isn't "doing for the boys" is he?
In short, if a women is good enough and has the drive and support she'll gravitate towards the top. But the lefty nonsense will sour it.
). Mental strength, yeah no real difference at all, some strong as hell women out there mentally (my mum for one!).
Lack of size and weight are an advantage in motorsports! So women score highly there, although many smaller men also take advantage of their lack of physical size (take Dani Pedrosa).
But The biggest hurdle for me regarding women is competitive desire, this is hard wired into most men and not in most women. My wife cannot understand why I get narked off at games and sports and tells me to "just stop"......WUUUT I say, because there's no WAY I can just stop! I keep going blindy until I collapse in a defeated heap or win.
And I disagree "society" forces the sexes in one direction or another, especially today when there are more than enough influences in alternative directions, yet still the majority of people go in the "mainstream" direction. My wife wasn't influenced by society at all, she's a Metalhead and hates pink, if someone wants to go in a direction they go in it. I fear the modern world with the SJWs upset when their girls want a barbie and their boys want a gun to play with <-- this DOES happen!!!
All I hope is when it happens we don't get the usual liberal "doing it for the girls" band wagoning bull. Sports people are in it for THEMSELVES. I can't do things that other men do, means sod all to me that they can do it and I can't. Hamilton isn't "doing for the boys" is he?
In short, if a women is good enough and has the drive and support she'll gravitate towards the top. But the lefty nonsense will sour it.
We've had female jet fighter pilots since the 90's and they meet all the physical demands required. I think it's a surprise we haven't had a female F1 driver yet. This may be the difference between governments who can mandate female fighter pilots and take action to make it happen versus private business where the main interest is profit and profile.
Look at the government and lottery money given to British cycling development and you see the results for both the women and men involved. Maybe what is needed is a similar programme for motorsport? As far as the teams themselves go is there a young female driver signed to a team in the way Lewis Hamilton was groomed for stardom by Uncle Ron?
Look at the government and lottery money given to British cycling development and you see the results for both the women and men involved. Maybe what is needed is a similar programme for motorsport? As far as the teams themselves go is there a young female driver signed to a team in the way Lewis Hamilton was groomed for stardom by Uncle Ron?
I still remember how i had to write to Sector3 support for my missing Gosia Rdest livery, heartbreaking
anyway, who cares about formula uno, this is what matters http://speedqueens.blogspot.com/2015/07/female-drivers-in-truck-racing.html
anyway, who cares about formula uno, this is what matters http://speedqueens.blogspot.com/2015/07/female-drivers-in-truck-racing.html
If Hamilton and Rosberg did it, girls could do it 100%
OK this is an age old question.
Let me tell you something. I watch a hell of a lot of short oval racing in the UK. I prefer the full contact racing and the starter formula for that is called Ministocks.
They are fairly highly tuned Mini based space-frame cars with full body protection and inner bracing to allow full contact.
Age limit is 14 to 16.
And a few years ago the majority of drivers winning were girls. This is full contact racing like F1 stock cars, hard, very punishing. And most of the champions were lasses.
Talk to them and sex is not even mentioned, they are just racing their mates as peers. So much was there no difference, no pink cars, no special stuff in the press they were literally just racing drivers.
That is a quantum leap over every single sport other than equestrianism in terms of female participation and equality. Actually perhaps drag racing aswell.
I watched a thing about road racing in Ireland recently and there was a pretty little girl racing there, she had amazing bikes, great setups but was useless. That is what gives women racing a bad name. And the tv people should be ashamed, trying to use a young lass to get people interested, it is simple baiting.
There was none of this in Ministocks. I tried to get some press interested but the people running the class were not keen as the kids were simply racing each other, to them their sex was not an issue. And I quickly realised they had jumped about two stages ahead of every other motorsport known to man without even realising it.
Do you see how much further in advance that is compared to every single person mentioned here? Jorda, what a disgrace, Wolff not bad but only there coz of Toto, Danica there as she is hot and was pushed by a massive marketing campaign for years. Wilson, Galica, all average but you only remember them because they were women. Paula Cook, woeful. Lyn St James, fair play for having a go, but c'mon. You don't rememeber the other guys she qualified at the back near do you? Because they are as forgettable as they all should be
There are very few, if any proper female motorsport competitors that deserve credit for their results. Michele is the one that stands out. But be honest, she was there initially as a clever move by Audi, I am sure they had no idea she would be as good as she was. But it worked out superbly for them, and she proved herself in every way.
So, in a basic formula, run but Dads, they have managed to sweep sexism away. Anyone who has seen Judy Lyons in Historic F1 will be fully aware how much of a quantum leap that is as that women should never, ever be allowed on any racetrack
Let me tell you something. I watch a hell of a lot of short oval racing in the UK. I prefer the full contact racing and the starter formula for that is called Ministocks.
They are fairly highly tuned Mini based space-frame cars with full body protection and inner bracing to allow full contact.
Age limit is 14 to 16.
And a few years ago the majority of drivers winning were girls. This is full contact racing like F1 stock cars, hard, very punishing. And most of the champions were lasses.
Talk to them and sex is not even mentioned, they are just racing their mates as peers. So much was there no difference, no pink cars, no special stuff in the press they were literally just racing drivers.
That is a quantum leap over every single sport other than equestrianism in terms of female participation and equality. Actually perhaps drag racing aswell.
I watched a thing about road racing in Ireland recently and there was a pretty little girl racing there, she had amazing bikes, great setups but was useless. That is what gives women racing a bad name. And the tv people should be ashamed, trying to use a young lass to get people interested, it is simple baiting.
There was none of this in Ministocks. I tried to get some press interested but the people running the class were not keen as the kids were simply racing each other, to them their sex was not an issue. And I quickly realised they had jumped about two stages ahead of every other motorsport known to man without even realising it.
Do you see how much further in advance that is compared to every single person mentioned here? Jorda, what a disgrace, Wolff not bad but only there coz of Toto, Danica there as she is hot and was pushed by a massive marketing campaign for years. Wilson, Galica, all average but you only remember them because they were women. Paula Cook, woeful. Lyn St James, fair play for having a go, but c'mon. You don't rememeber the other guys she qualified at the back near do you? Because they are as forgettable as they all should be
There are very few, if any proper female motorsport competitors that deserve credit for their results. Michele is the one that stands out. But be honest, she was there initially as a clever move by Audi, I am sure they had no idea she would be as good as she was. But it worked out superbly for them, and she proved herself in every way.
So, in a basic formula, run but Dads, they have managed to sweep sexism away. Anyone who has seen Judy Lyons in Historic F1 will be fully aware how much of a quantum leap that is as that women should never, ever be allowed on any racetrack
Somebody mentioned racing with women only...
It's strange, cos I'm ok watching all-women volleyball games, but I would think it's very weird in racing.
Maybe because... if there is ONE sport in which women can compete with men, it's racing, I guess.
It would feel unfair to put women against men in a rugby game... lol
But in racing, I feel it's totally fine.
I even find it "cool" when men and women can compete in the same sport.
About sexism though...
Well, I stopped using RD forums since quite some time now.
Some men make sure that we understand this is not our place here.
On another website about French cars, I just use a male nickname.
(Edit : I wish we could change the nickname on RD...)
I also race online with a male nickname.
Oh and thanks to Kunos for the improved A.I. in the last update!
The AI drivers aren't too judgmental so I prefer to drive with them now.
Well I'm going back to the kitchen, these sandwiches won't make themselves!
It's strange, cos I'm ok watching all-women volleyball games, but I would think it's very weird in racing.
Maybe because... if there is ONE sport in which women can compete with men, it's racing, I guess.
It would feel unfair to put women against men in a rugby game... lol
But in racing, I feel it's totally fine.
I even find it "cool" when men and women can compete in the same sport.
About sexism though...
Well, I stopped using RD forums since quite some time now.
Some men make sure that we understand this is not our place here.
On another website about French cars, I just use a male nickname.
(Edit : I wish we could change the nickname on RD...)
I also race online with a male nickname
.Oh and thanks to Kunos for the improved A.I. in the last update!
The AI drivers aren't too judgmental so I prefer to drive with them now.
Well I'm going back to the kitchen, these sandwiches won't make themselves!
The fact that this is even a post is insulting. Men dominate motorsports in part because of the notion that woman can't...this post is evidence of this. It's no different than asking if Blacks or other minorities can compete in motorsports. Talent isn't dependent on gender, age or race. Yes, some baseline natural ability may be required, but what is more important is the desire to learn and the will to be the best you can be.
I personally can see it happening - not within the next two years, probably within the next five to ten years. There's some seriously talented girls racing in junior formula series (Sophia Flörsch, Jamie Chadwick for example) who I could imagine in Formula One some day.
Physically, it's been pointed out that women are - on average - at a disadvantage. With the new cars, Formula One has become significantly more demanding; that being said, with the appropriate preparation, I think women can reach the exact same level of fitness.
However, I feel it needs to be said that women are still - and probably will remain - not a minority, but an exception in racing; even in junior categories, there's hardly ever more than one or two girls competing against the boys. So even if there's girls who have that incredible talent necessary to make it to F1, it's very likely that she's not racing simply because she's not interested (or has been told by someone that a girl shouldn't be interested).
Physically, it's been pointed out that women are - on average - at a disadvantage. With the new cars, Formula One has become significantly more demanding; that being said, with the appropriate preparation, I think women can reach the exact same level of fitness.
However, I feel it needs to be said that women are still - and probably will remain - not a minority, but an exception in racing; even in junior categories, there's hardly ever more than one or two girls competing against the boys. So even if there's girls who have that incredible talent necessary to make it to F1, it's very likely that she's not racing simply because she's not interested (or has been told by someone that a girl shouldn't be interested).
Not sure, on the one hand women are just as capable as men in a lot of areas so why wouldnt they be. However on the other hand when talking about elite physical performance, as in top of the top, as in creme da la creme it will almost always be dominated by men not because of sexism but genetics. If the Olympics didnt have separation for men and women events, if a women was to qualify to say the 100m they would soon find themselves out because the men are too fast. An elite female sprinter will beat 99% of the world, an elite male however will beat everybody.
The reason why im not sure is because i dont know how physically demanding racing is at the top level of f1(hell even at any level tbh, never raced before). If it isnt as hard as pressumed then women have every chance to compete but if it is then theres already a hurdle that women would find a harder time to jump than men.
The reason why im not sure is because i dont know how physically demanding racing is at the top level of f1(hell even at any level tbh, never raced before
). If it isnt as hard as pressumed then women have every chance to compete but if it is then theres already a hurdle that women would find a harder time to jump than men.
