Can a female legitimately compete in F1?
Discussion
Looking at someone like Helen McCarthy makes me believe that a woman could compete successfully in F1, as there is now power steering and most of the current crop are hardly Nigel Mansell sized, however what is a problem, is that there are so few ladies in the pipeline to start with.
On that topic, with the exception of a few current drivers (Fred and Hamilton, I don't really buy the idea that the current crop are the best drivers in the world, as we are told every GP. If that's so, why no drivers from the whole of Africa for example.
If you look at football it is surprising how rarely great footballers have equally successful sons and in my view there is a very clear reason for that, it is easy and cheap to play football and hence we get most of the best players rising to the top.
I think even to have a sniff of a chance of being a pro driver, there needs to be some family money and or a willingness to make huge sacrifices on the part of the parents.
On that topic, with the exception of a few current drivers (Fred and Hamilton, I don't really buy the idea that the current crop are the best drivers in the world, as we are told every GP. If that's so, why no drivers from the whole of Africa for example.
If you look at football it is surprising how rarely great footballers have equally successful sons and in my view there is a very clear reason for that, it is easy and cheap to play football and hence we get most of the best players rising to the top.
I think even to have a sniff of a chance of being a pro driver, there needs to be some family money and or a willingness to make huge sacrifices on the part of the parents.
lbc said:
Too much money involved in F1 now to risk a female driver.
A female driver, even a mediocre one could do wonders for a team especially one who has no real chance of winning races. In any case I dont see why a woman couldn't compete with men in F1. I think the main problem is that there aren't enough girls getting in to motor racing at an early age, or at least few that follow it through. vxr8mate said:
Nobody is talking of mixing the sexes in boxing, tennis or football so why F1 and if they do can women ever compete in this endurance sport on an equal footing?
Those sports aren't good examples. Horse riding, which like motor racing is a sport where the human doesn't do most of the work, men and women compete equally.p.s. no-one is talking about mixing sexes in motor racing - they are already mixed but it's just very male dominated to the point where women either do not have the opportunity to break into the top level, or the pool of talent is simply too small to find a woman with enough skill.
Dr Jekyll said:
I think the problem with top level motor racing is that to be competitive you have to be dedicated, even obsessed, to the point of being slightly unbalanced. That kind of obsession is far more common in men than women.
I remember Steve Davis making that argument as to why women will probably never compete equally with men in snooker - it's argument works for snooker but not for motor racing because one sport is enormous fun to compete in and practice, the other is enormously pointless. Also snooker requires huge levels of practice - in motor racing no-one has enough money to practice for 7-8 hours a day.vxr8mate said:
With all the talk of Mrs Wolfe testing at Silverstone I wonder if women will ever compete with men in this sport.
Nobody is talking of mixing the sexes in boxing, tennis or football so why F1 and if they do can women ever compete in this endurance sport on an equal footing?
Apparently youve missed that theres mixed doubles in tennis?Nobody is talking of mixing the sexes in boxing, tennis or football so why F1 and if they do can women ever compete in this endurance sport on an equal footing?
Why WOULDNT a woman be able to compete? Whats stopping them? In single seaters small compact drivers are now the vogue, so a female would be perfect.
If there was the support and more females doing it, some would make a good case for the top level. Theres been a few females in Indy...probably as the progression system there is better set up.
Alice Powell, for example, is a race winner but finding it hard to progress through the ranks, despite some promise in GP3.
Mr_Thyroid said:
I remember Steve Davis making that argument as to why women will probably never compete equally with men in snooker...
Not to mention their breasts getting in the way when they bend over the table. Women bending over a table as part of a male-dominated spectator sport - there's another possible drawback for them./Welcome to the 1970s
mistakenplane said:
vxr8mate said:
With all the talk of Mrs Wolfe testing at Silverstone I wonder if women will ever compete with men in this sport.
Nobody is talking of mixing the sexes in boxing, tennis or football so why F1 and if they do can women ever compete in this endurance sport on an equal footing?
Apparently youve missed that theres mixed doubles in tennis?Nobody is talking of mixing the sexes in boxing, tennis or football so why F1 and if they do can women ever compete in this endurance sport on an equal footing?
Why WOULDNT a woman be able to compete? Whats stopping them? In single seaters small compact drivers are now the vogue, so a female would be perfect.
If there was the support and more females doing it, some would make a good case for the top level. Theres been a few females in Indy...probably as the progression system there is better set up.
Alice Powell, for example, is a race winner but finding it hard to progress through the ranks, despite some promise in GP3.
Small drivers have been 'the vogue' in single seaters for decades. If that's the right word , which I doubt.
Alice Powell has less chance of getting into F1 than my left big toe. She was regularly beaten by a number of hobby drivers in the F3 Cup last year, despite having one of the best cars and teams and the biggest budget. If you think her poor efforts in GP3 show promise, then you must have extremely low standards.
lbc said:
Too much money involved in F1 now to risk a female driver.
But if you are clever it could make a stack of money.Ms Patrick sits in a Sprint Cup Car every weekend, not because its some sort of sympathy vote or that shes immensely talented, its financially viable for her to be there, she generates money.
I think it could happen in F1 if someone is willing to manage it all.
It comes down to the number of young racing drivers. For example 5,000 young males in junior series trying to make it to F1 and only 2 new drivers eventually make it every year that's a hit rate of 0.04%
If there are then only 500 young girls trying to make it and if you use the same success rate of 0.04% then the grand total of 0.2 of them will make it to F1.
In other words there are many more boys out there so more chances to find the one with the talent than the smaller pool of girls. The greatest driver ever in the world could be a girl but she's not racing so will never be found.
If there are then only 500 young girls trying to make it and if you use the same success rate of 0.04% then the grand total of 0.2 of them will make it to F1.
In other words there are many more boys out there so more chances to find the one with the talent than the smaller pool of girls. The greatest driver ever in the world could be a girl but she's not racing so will never be found.
FourWheelDrift said:
It comes down to the number of young racing drivers. For example 5,000 young males in junior series trying to make it to F1 and only 2 new drivers eventually make it every year that's a hit rate of 0.04%
If there are then only 500 young girls trying to make it and if you use the same success rate of 0.04% then the grand total of 0.2 of them will make it to F1.
In other words there are many more boys out there so more chances to find the one with the talent than the smaller pool of girls. The greatest driver ever in the world could be a girl but she's not racing so will never be found.
What he said.If there are then only 500 young girls trying to make it and if you use the same success rate of 0.04% then the grand total of 0.2 of them will make it to F1.
In other words there are many more boys out there so more chances to find the one with the talent than the smaller pool of girls. The greatest driver ever in the world could be a girl but she's not racing so will never be found.
For me it is much more straightforward. If you can drive faster than Pastor Maldonado then you get a seat. Prove you can go fast then I would want to see you race. I like to see fast skillful racing and just don't care who is behind the wheel.
In the same way as I will support drivers from all over the world, I don't see what the problem would be to support a female driver.
In the same way as I will support drivers from all over the world, I don't see what the problem would be to support a female driver.
Could a woman compete in F1? Yes obviously, they have before. Could they win? Again yes. At this moment in time are there any good enough to be there? Given the only one about to drive a car is married to one of the Mercedes bosses and has had at best an average career in DTM that kind of answers the question.
Mr_Thyroid said:
I remember Steve Davis making that argument as to why women will probably never compete equally with men in snooker - it's argument works for snooker but not for motor racing because one sport is enormous fun to compete in and practice, the other is enormously pointless.
Dare I ask which is which? Both are presumably fun for those who do it, both can be regarded as enormously pointless.Gassing Station | Formula 1 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff