Can a female legitimately compete in F1?
Discussion
Nobby Diesel said:
vxr8mate said:
OK, I will ask....who is she?
Danica Patrick.
If you think that Danica Patrick has got even close to any of the achievements I listed you are seriously off base.
She has only ever won one race (Indy Car in 2008) never mind finishing a season top of the rankings!
You got the nationality right though. The lady in the pic is an American who overcame intense opposition to her participation not only by the male competitors but her chosen sport's governing body as well. Shirley Muldowney - triple Top Fuel dragster champion. Only Joe Amato (4) and Tony Schumacher (7)* have won more.
* Interesting coincidence with that last name.
Arguably this lady has been even more successful albeit on two wheels and in a different (lower) category.
Also a triple champion and many more race wins (#2 on the all time list).
The fastest quarter mile time ever recorded was in a rocket powered dragster with a female driver who has been deaf since she was 4 months old!
There is a very good reason why you will find women are more likely to feature in drag racing. It's a lot to do with its 'grass roots' history, thus being far less of a 'closed shop'.
thiscocks said:
Agree with Wolf comment but Michele Mouton has proven the rest of your paragraph is utter b
ks.
She's a great example that women can have the instinct and ability.ks.I do wonder how much the inhuman fitness demands of current F1 drivers might count against women even more than men, or lead to long term health concerns in areas such as motherhood.
Park'O said:
Enforced by female management at Williams, and backed by sugar daddy Toto, I thought Sussie Wolffs stint in the car on Friday was poor. Mostly off the racing line thus lack of control. It was an absolute disgrace and a waste of time!
It always will be! Men produce 20x more testostrone than female, black males producing even more. Women will never compete against man, unless woman takes a copious amount of performance enhancing drugs.
Even then, woman would be sub Chilton standards..
Explain female fast jet fighter pilots using your testosterone deficit theory ?It always will be! Men produce 20x more testostrone than female, black males producing even more. Women will never compete against man, unless woman takes a copious amount of performance enhancing drugs.
Even then, woman would be sub Chilton standards..
Too much testosterone can be as bad as having too little when it comes to motor racing, too little and you won't take the risks necessary to win, too much and you'll end up taking too much risk and not reach the end of the race.
Balance is the key, being able to produce enough to push hard but not so much you end up overdriving, taking too much risk and crashing.
The physical demands on the drivers in formula 1 can't be underestimated. Anyone saying otherwise hasn't driven an open wheel racer, it's so hard to appreciate the demands on the body compared to any road going car.
It would interesting to see what percentage of males would be able to endure the physical demands required to drive an F1 car at a competitive pace, I'm sure the percentage would be very low. Whether the best female could be competitive with the best of that small percentage of men would be interesting.
As the physical demands of driving the cars become reduced it will become more likely we will see a woman being able to compete. The new brake by wire systems this year should reduce the physical effort needed to slow the cars.... aah for the old days of Mansell collapsing out of the car
Balance is the key, being able to produce enough to push hard but not so much you end up overdriving, taking too much risk and crashing.
The physical demands on the drivers in formula 1 can't be underestimated. Anyone saying otherwise hasn't driven an open wheel racer, it's so hard to appreciate the demands on the body compared to any road going car.
It would interesting to see what percentage of males would be able to endure the physical demands required to drive an F1 car at a competitive pace, I'm sure the percentage would be very low. Whether the best female could be competitive with the best of that small percentage of men would be interesting.
As the physical demands of driving the cars become reduced it will become more likely we will see a woman being able to compete. The new brake by wire systems this year should reduce the physical effort needed to slow the cars.... aah for the old days of Mansell collapsing out of the car
Scuffers said:
just how many front-line top class fighter pilots are women?
and how do you propose to bench-mark them against their male counterparts?
There is (or was until recently) at least one female gunner flying British Army Apache helicopters and she reputedly held the record for the most ammunition fired off in combat in the shortest time. and how do you propose to bench-mark them against their male counterparts?
Dr Jekyll said:
Scuffers said:
just how many front-line top class fighter pilots are women?
and how do you propose to bench-mark them against their male counterparts?
............. she reputedly held the record for the most ammunition fired off in combat in the shortest time. and how do you propose to bench-mark them against their male counterparts?
Red Devil said:
The fastest quarter mile time ever recorded was in a rocket powered dragster with a female driver who has been deaf since she was 4 months old!
Anyone else thinking that being deaf and a rocket dragster driver is either a Good think or inevitable? :-)I don't have anything else to contribute because I think its bl**dy obvious a women could compete on a level footing with a man in F1, in fact in F1 more so than many other "sports".
I do however find it remarkable there are so many sexist, Neanderthals here who can't acknowledge what women are capable of, makes me wonder if they are compensating :-)
scubadude said:
Red Devil said:
The fastest quarter mile time ever recorded was in a rocket powered dragster with a female driver who has been deaf since she was 4 months old!
Anyone else thinking that being deaf and a rocket dragster driver is either a Good think or inevitable? :-)I don't have anything else to contribute because I think its bl**dy obvious a women could compete on a level footing with a man in F1, in fact in F1 more so than many other "sports".
I do however find it remarkable there are so many sexist, Neanderthals here who can't acknowledge what women are capable of, makes me wonder if they are compensating :-)
There have been, and are, many women who enter Motorsport. Very few of them get to high levels and there have been even fewer, if any, who would have merited or do merit a place on the F1 grid. One day, maybe, but it hasn't happened yet.
For me gender is not an excuse for allowing mediocrity to become acceptable.
Dr Jekyll said:
Scuffers said:
just how many front-line top class fighter pilots are women?
and how do you propose to bench-mark them against their male counterparts?
There is (or was until recently) at least one female gunner flying British Army Apache helicopters and she reputedly held the record for the most ammunition fired off in combat in the shortest time. and how do you propose to bench-mark them against their male counterparts?
http://www.militaryspeakers.co.uk/speakers/charlot...
I am sure there was one in fast jet's but can find no evidence for?
REALIST123 said:
If it's so obvious why don't they? And don't just repeat all the crap about not getting the chance, stereotyping etc.
There have been, and are, many women who enter Motorsport. Very few of them get to high levels and there have been even fewer, if any, who would have merited or do merit a place on the F1 grid. One day, maybe, but it hasn't happened yet.
For me gender is not an excuse for allowing mediocrity to become acceptable.
I interviewed a female racing driver and asked her about F1. She was dismissive of the chances of a woman doing well, ie challenging for the WDC. She reckoned that the physical demands of the sport made this impossible. To get to the top you need many attributes and to be top at all of them and women had physical disadvantage which, whilst they were not particularly great, you have to take into account that the difference between the podium and not scoring is less than half a percent.There have been, and are, many women who enter Motorsport. Very few of them get to high levels and there have been even fewer, if any, who would have merited or do merit a place on the F1 grid. One day, maybe, but it hasn't happened yet.
For me gender is not an excuse for allowing mediocrity to become acceptable.
Another female driver suggested that F1 was sexist in design. The grip levels gave so much G and the steering was so heavy that in a 90 minute race, the would tell.
Both suggested that there are side affects to high testosterone levels and made other motor sports more open to women, in particular endurance sports cars.
One woman was driving at set lap times for one team, neither increasing nor decreasing as the fuel level dropped. This was to ensure a finish, then just about half an hour away. Then the car immediately in front began to slow and the team saw a chance to go up the table. A sign went out for her to speed up and that lap she closed on the car in front by some seconds and then she put in a number of laps at lower laps times.
The other team became agitated and brought their car in for a splash and dash, sending it out on the same lap as the woman driver, but almost a lap in front. It was soon almost up to the speed of the woman.
A signal went out to the woman to return to previous lap times and she was almost at that level on that lap and then dropped almost exactly the following lap.
Now can you imagine a male driver doing that?
In the same team, a driver who was putting in some fast laps was called in to be replaced. Everything was prepared but he failed to stop. The sign went out again on the next lap and he put in his fastest first two sector times and then came in, two laps late.
Just like a bloke.
There are differences between men and women. In my father's time the most important was that women danced backwards but it is much more fundamental than that. I have a great deal of sympathy for the suggestion that F1 is sexist but as it is now, a woman would have to be rather odd to be able to challenge for the WDC.
All the belief in fair play and equality cannot alter this. What will have to change is the nature of the sport itself.
Scuffers said:
I am sure there was one in fast jet's but can find no evidence for?
There's a list of a few on Wikipaedia. Aircraft include Viggen, Gripen, F16, Mig 29, Mirage. So, bona fide, fast jets. At least one woman has flown with the Red Arrows.
There's no evidence of G induced fertility issues!
Dr Jekyll said:
There is (or was until recently) at least one female gunner flying British Army Apache helicopters and she reputedly held the record for the most ammunition fired off in combat in the shortest time.
That tell's you all you need to know about Gunners and nothing at all about women.Gassing Station | Formula 1 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff