Jamie Chadwick - First competitive female driver in F1?
Discussion
RB Will said:
What do their results say?
Liz McColgan and Paula Radcliffe both won major international marathons less than a year after giving birth, and McColgan also won her only World Championship gold medal for 10k afterwards.It's impossible to say how they would have performed otherwise, but it clearly didn't have a gross negative affect.
Nonsense aside the sex and kids aspect is a huge factor in women taking part. overall.
I know plenty of girls who have been into racing massively as kids, get to teens and it all just gets eased aside for socialising and boys. Nothing wrong with this, but I do feel at times massive talent has been lost, well not lost, just sort of moved aside for the things "normal" girls do.
it obviously doesn't seem to affect men as much if at all, they carry on regardless, but women for some reason easily lose interest in racing.
But the teenager drop off element is probably the biggest thing preventing a real major talent coming through in my eyes. And what can you do about that, and why should you even try!
I know plenty of girls who have been into racing massively as kids, get to teens and it all just gets eased aside for socialising and boys. Nothing wrong with this, but I do feel at times massive talent has been lost, well not lost, just sort of moved aside for the things "normal" girls do.
it obviously doesn't seem to affect men as much if at all, they carry on regardless, but women for some reason easily lose interest in racing.
But the teenager drop off element is probably the biggest thing preventing a real major talent coming through in my eyes. And what can you do about that, and why should you even try!
I imagine that applies equally to boys tbf. When you hear stories about drivers/footballers/athletes who 'made it' they are often backed by stories of the sacrifices they made 'missing out' on the fun stuff all their mates were up to... you simply cannot make it if you're burning the candle at both ends.
Agreed but I would suggest the temptations for most young girls are probably more likely to swing a hobby.
It does work both ways of course and I guess in most racing you are more aware of lasses who give up rather then the hordes of guys and a few that might too.
There have been a few stories this week about this and also the bigger picture of women in motorsport in general. Basically repeating a lot of what is said here, it is not a lack of talent. But then ignoring the elephant in the room, but there is a lack of interest, women would probably like to pursue all sorts of careers, not just motorsport, green energy careers seem to be attracting women more at the moment as they are probably more relevant to current youth, and jobs in fields linked to stuff like climate change and developing new tech to clean up the world.
these things likely attract more men as well, but the simple fact is if you offer anyone a career in racing, or numerous types of other engineering, the fact it is racing will not sway anywhere near as many women as men, something articles like this seem to ignore. There is no need to have women in jobs for the sake of it, they need to be good enough and motivated to be there for the right reasons not simply to tick a box Liberty want ticking.
It does work both ways of course and I guess in most racing you are more aware of lasses who give up rather then the hordes of guys and a few that might too.
There have been a few stories this week about this and also the bigger picture of women in motorsport in general. Basically repeating a lot of what is said here, it is not a lack of talent. But then ignoring the elephant in the room, but there is a lack of interest, women would probably like to pursue all sorts of careers, not just motorsport, green energy careers seem to be attracting women more at the moment as they are probably more relevant to current youth, and jobs in fields linked to stuff like climate change and developing new tech to clean up the world.
these things likely attract more men as well, but the simple fact is if you offer anyone a career in racing, or numerous types of other engineering, the fact it is racing will not sway anywhere near as many women as men, something articles like this seem to ignore. There is no need to have women in jobs for the sake of it, they need to be good enough and motivated to be there for the right reasons not simply to tick a box Liberty want ticking.
Lia Block daughter of Ken Block for those who aren’t aware of her.
Has announced today she will be racing for Williams in the F1 academy.
Which I have to say took me by surprise, I always assumed she was into rallying as that’s what she has been doing.
As far as I know she hasn’t done any track racing?
I can see why Williams are doing this it the PR and marketing opportunities will be absolutely huge. You could say it’s a massive opportunity for single seater racing and potentially F1. As Hoonigans would be very different kind of brand to what is typically involved at the moment.
Will be interesting to see how she goes as she has been mixing it successfully with the boys in the USA for a while. Not sure what the standard is like over there. Always got the impression it’s pretty low with top men mostly being guys who rallying isn’t actually their primary sport.
Has announced today she will be racing for Williams in the F1 academy.
Which I have to say took me by surprise, I always assumed she was into rallying as that’s what she has been doing.
As far as I know she hasn’t done any track racing?
I can see why Williams are doing this it the PR and marketing opportunities will be absolutely huge. You could say it’s a massive opportunity for single seater racing and potentially F1. As Hoonigans would be very different kind of brand to what is typically involved at the moment.
Will be interesting to see how she goes as she has been mixing it successfully with the boys in the USA for a while. Not sure what the standard is like over there. Always got the impression it’s pretty low with top men mostly being guys who rallying isn’t actually their primary sport.
ntiz said:
Will be interesting to see how she goes as she has been mixing it successfully with the boys in the USA for a while. Not sure what the standard is like over there. Always got the impression it’s pretty low with top men mostly being guys who rallying isn’t actually their primary sport.
Rallying in the USA is much lower key than the ROW, they basically have a couple of semi works teams and then it's all amateur. Subaru USA have continued to be the main factory name, as the market for Subaru in the USA is huge. so they invested in the cars and get decent drivers onboard.F1 academy is such a low level standard it's probably a good place for her to try, she seems capable enough to control a car so will be interesting if that translates to a racing circuit, i don't see why it wont.
thegreenhell said:
She's been karting since she was 11, and she's still only just 17 so has youth on her side to adapt to single seaters.
That's actually quite late to start karting - and I'm surprised given who her dad was. If anyone could have provided her a practice circuit and range of vehicles it was him!Not a criticism but I know she's a racer now and always assumed she'd been driving/racing on some level from a super young age.
TheDeuce said:
That's actually quite late to start karting - and I'm surprised given who her dad was. If anyone could have provided her a practice circuit and range of vehicles it was him!
Not a criticism but I know she's a racer now and always assumed she'd been driving/racing on some level from a super young age.
She would have been hooning about on dirt from the womb onwards.Not a criticism but I know she's a racer now and always assumed she'd been driving/racing on some level from a super young age.
TheDeuce said:
thegreenhell said:
She's been karting since she was 11, and she's still only just 17 so has youth on her side to adapt to single seaters.
That's actually quite late to start karting - and I'm surprised given who her dad was. If anyone could have provided her a practice circuit and range of vehicles it was him!Not a criticism but I know she's a racer now and always assumed she'd been driving/racing on some level from a super young age.
thegreenhell said:
TheDeuce said:
thegreenhell said:
She's been karting since she was 11, and she's still only just 17 so has youth on her side to adapt to single seaters.
That's actually quite late to start karting - and I'm surprised given who her dad was. If anyone could have provided her a practice circuit and range of vehicles it was him!Not a criticism but I know she's a racer now and always assumed she'd been driving/racing on some level from a super young age.
It does surprise me she started competitively relatively late though. Lewis started at 8 (competitively), Max started at 4!
flatlandsman said:
You do get the feeling though that like a lot of these appointments,t he social media following and potential marketing benefits are the prime reason for this.
You also have to remember Jamie is "supposed" to be a Williams rep.
That's exactly why. The girls the teams are picking up are the most marketable or interesting (like miss block), not the most talented... Because they know they'll never make it anyway. It's all for the likes and the hashtags.You also have to remember Jamie is "supposed" to be a Williams rep.
They are being exploited but they're getting some free s
t and publicity out of it themselves so it's a win win. Basically a human centipede of wokeness.520TORQUES said:
TheDeuce said:
Probably right, she must have driven earlier than that.
It does surprise me she started competitively relatively late though. Lewis started at 8 (competitively), Max started at 4!
Hopefully too busy having fun with her dad.It does surprise me she started competitively relatively late though. Lewis started at 8 (competitively), Max started at 4!
I imagine her getting into racing will have been very much her decision.
Lia’s a good choice, she’s got a big following and a history of competing in other series. Rather her than Lindsay Brewer, as the American competitor.
That said, one thing that WS got right was the winter test event. They took the best drivers from the testing, not just those who were already well-known.
That said, one thing that WS got right was the winter test event. They took the best drivers from the testing, not just those who were already well-known.
ntiz said:
Lia Block daughter of Ken Block for those who aren’t aware of her.
Has announced today she will be racing for Williams in the F1 academy.
Which I have to say took me by surprise, I always assumed she was into rallying as that’s what she has been doing.
As far as I know she hasn’t done any track racing?
I can see why Williams are doing this it the PR and marketing opportunities will be absolutely huge. You could say it’s a massive opportunity for single seater racing and potentially F1. As Hoonigans would be very different kind of brand to what is typically involved at the moment.
Will be interesting to see how she goes as she has been mixing it successfully with the boys in the USA for a while. Not sure what the standard is like over there. Always got the impression it’s pretty low with top men mostly being guys who rallying isn’t actually their primary sport.
The marketing strategy of this is just so fHas announced today she will be racing for Williams in the F1 academy.
Which I have to say took me by surprise, I always assumed she was into rallying as that’s what she has been doing.
As far as I know she hasn’t done any track racing?
I can see why Williams are doing this it the PR and marketing opportunities will be absolutely huge. You could say it’s a massive opportunity for single seater racing and potentially F1. As Hoonigans would be very different kind of brand to what is typically involved at the moment.
Will be interesting to see how she goes as she has been mixing it successfully with the boys in the USA for a while. Not sure what the standard is like over there. Always got the impression it’s pretty low with top men mostly being guys who rallying isn’t actually their primary sport.
king dumb! She's not driving 'for Williams' she's driving for ART supported by Williams. Williams are just slapping stickers on the car like all teams are.Another rich kid getting financially subsidised despite not needing it, with all of the opportunities her late father affords her just makes a mockery of the claim that this series is needed because of a lack of opportunities for female drivers, especially when she is up against other rich kids that have been more than capable of paying for racing drives for years without any real success. The only positive is that she is at least of the age and experience expected, not early to mid 20's. I can see why she is doing it though, it's a cheap racing seat that gets her lots of media attention.
Using the F1 brand and mandating that the F1 teams all support a driver is going to backfire, it is after all just a lower quality than F4, F4 series. When Garcia (and reportedly Buhler) gets battered in FRECA next year after winning F1 Academy it won't look good for the brand. Just how long is F1 going to be willing to set fire to many 10s of $millions for the 5 teams, 15 drivers and the series overall before they have to admit it is a bad idea.
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