Jamie Chadwick - First competitive female driver in F1?

[TikTak]

Tough year is one way to put it. Stone cold last of the people who participated in all races.

Imagine she'll get another pop at it but looks like she has some way to go.

[Teppic]

df76 said:

500TORQUES said:

Season over.

The answer is clearly no.

Her single seater ambitions are now definitely over, but may have the backing for other forms of racing.

Or she'lll become another Sky Sports F1 pundit.

[andburg]

She has struggled with the physical needs and has openly admitted to issues around this.

There are also silly things like just reaching the pedals the steering wheel size which have been designed around a typical range of men.

She’s apparently 5’3 which puts her 2” shorter than Yuki Tsunoda who is the shortest f1 driver ever. He’s doing ok in F1 so that can’t be an issue right? The difference in f1 is the car isn’t standardised so it can easily designed to fit a shorter driver, this could even be an advantage.

It’s a 2 year program, she’s got time to work on her strength and team to sort some more adjustments or negotiate some rule allowances for her stature.

[gt_12345]

andburg said:

She has struggled with the physical needs and has openly admitted to issues around this.

There are also silly things like just reaching the pedals the steering wheel size which have been designed around a typical range of men.

She’s apparently 5’3 which puts her 2” shorter than Yuki Tsunoda who is the shortest f1 driver ever. He’s doing ok in F1 so that can’t be an issue right? The difference in f1 is the car isn’t standardised so it can easily designed to fit a shorter driver, this could even be an advantage.

It’s a 2 year program, she’s got time to work on her strength and team to sort some more adjustments or negotiate some rule allowances for her stature.

She's not in the top 20 drivers in the world so why should she be in F1?

[Muzzer79]

gt_12345 said:

andburg said:

She has struggled with the physical needs and has openly admitted to issues around this.

There are also silly things like just reaching the pedals the steering wheel size which have been designed around a typical range of men.

She’s apparently 5’3 which puts her 2” shorter than Yuki Tsunoda who is the shortest f1 driver ever. He’s doing ok in F1 so that can’t be an issue right? The difference in f1 is the car isn’t standardised so it can easily designed to fit a shorter driver, this could even be an advantage.

It’s a 2 year program, she’s got time to work on her strength and team to sort some more adjustments or negotiate some rule allowances for her stature.

She's not in the top 20 drivers in the world so why should she be in F1?

I don’t see anyone suggesting she should be yet?

[gt_12345]

Muzzer79 said:

gt_12345 said:

andburg said:

She has struggled with the physical needs and has openly admitted to issues around this.

There are also silly things like just reaching the pedals the steering wheel size which have been designed around a typical range of men.

She’s apparently 5’3 which puts her 2” shorter than Yuki Tsunoda who is the shortest f1 driver ever. He’s doing ok in F1 so that can’t be an issue right? The difference in f1 is the car isn’t standardised so it can easily designed to fit a shorter driver, this could even be an advantage.

It’s a 2 year program, she’s got time to work on her strength and team to sort some more adjustments or negotiate some rule allowances for her stature.

She's not in the top 20 drivers in the world so why should she be in F1?

I don’t see anyone suggesting she should be yet?

Read the last part of the person I quoted. Rule changes etc.

It reads like they believe she should be in F1.

[Muzzer79]

gt_12345 said:

Muzzer79 said:

gt_12345 said:

andburg said:

She has struggled with the physical needs and has openly admitted to issues around this.

There are also silly things like just reaching the pedals the steering wheel size which have been designed around a typical range of men.

She’s apparently 5’3 which puts her 2” shorter than Yuki Tsunoda who is the shortest f1 driver ever. He’s doing ok in F1 so that can’t be an issue right? The difference in f1 is the car isn’t standardised so it can easily designed to fit a shorter driver, this could even be an advantage.

It’s a 2 year program, she’s got time to work on her strength and team to sort some more adjustments or negotiate some rule allowances for her stature.

She's not in the top 20 drivers in the world so why should she be in F1?

I don’t see anyone suggesting she should be yet?

Read the last part of the person I quoted. Rule changes etc.

It reads like they believe she should be in F1.

It’s a 2 year program in Indycar NXT

The poster is suggesting that they could change the (spec) car in that series to accommodate her height.

If she did make it to F1, almost everything car-wise would be bespoke for her anyway.

[Rumdoodle]

andburg said:

She has struggled with the physical needs and has openly admitted to issues around this.

There are also silly things like just reaching the pedals the steering wheel size which have been designed around a typical range of men.

She’s apparently 5’3 which puts her 2” shorter than Yuki Tsunoda who is the shortest f1 driver ever. He’s doing ok in F1 so that can’t be an issue right? The difference in f1 is the car isn’t standardised so it can easily designed to fit a shorter driver, this could even be an advantage.

It’s a 2 year program, she’s got time to work on her strength and team to sort some more adjustments or negotiate some rule allowances for her stature.

Archie Scott Brown was only five foot tall. And he only had one hand.

[Muzzer79]

Rumdoodle said:

Archie Scott Brown was only five foot tall. And he only had one hand.

Yes. When he raced F1 in…..1956!

[RacerMike]

Geneve said:

gt_12345 said:

She's not in the top 20 drivers in the world so why should she be in F1?

Diverting off topic slightly, I’ve always queried whether the F1 grid really does represent the top drivers in the world.

It most definitely doesn’t. I’d say there are probably 4-5 on the grid at any one time who are genuinely right up there, but there are plenty of GT/Prototype drivers out there who would ultimately be just as competitive in F1 as the current grid…

[gt_12345]

Geneve said:

gt_12345 said:

She's not in the top 20 drivers in the world so why should she be in F1?

Diverting off topic slightly, I’ve always queried whether the F1 grid really does represent the top drivers in the world.

It didn't used to. Since the spending cap i think it's starting to because paid-drivers have less relevance.

[Sandpit Steve]

gt_12345 said:

Geneve said:

gt_12345 said:

She's not in the top 20 drivers in the world so why should she be in F1?

Diverting off topic slightly, I’ve always queried whether the F1 grid really does represent the top drivers in the world.

It didn't used to. Since the spending cap i think it's starting to because paid-drivers have less relevance.

Indeed, the Super Licence and the F1 cost cap has made the field the best ever. It’s fair to say that 19 of the current 20 drivers are primarily there on merit, rather than because they could open the cheque book.

Now obviously getting the super licence in the first place, is an expensive endeavour through the junior series, but there’s also now plenty of driver programmes and sponsorship available if you’re good enough.

Good luck to Jamie for next year. She’s not likely to be the next lady F1 driver, but can still probably get a career out of racing. If she doesn’t make Indycar then there’s FE, and quite a few pro sportscar drives out there for the new Hypercar series, which has attracted a number of factory entries.

[gt_12345]

Sandpit Steve said:

gt_12345 said:

Geneve said:

gt_12345 said:

She's not in the top 20 drivers in the world so why should she be in F1?

Diverting off topic slightly, I’ve always queried whether the F1 grid really does represent the top drivers in the world.

It didn't used to. Since the spending cap i think it's starting to because paid-drivers have less relevance.

Indeed, the Super Licence and the F1 cost cap has made the field the best ever. It’s fair to say that 19 of the current 20 drivers are primarily there on merit, rather than because they could open the cheque book.

Now obviously getting the super licence in the first place, is an expensive endeavour through the junior series, but there’s also now plenty of driver programmes and sponsorship available if you’re good enough.

Good luck to Jamie for next year. She’s not likely to be the next lady F1 driver, but can still probably get a career out of racing. If she doesn’t make Indycar then there’s FE, and quite a few pro sportscar drives out there for the new Hypercar series, which has attracted a number of factory entries.

Not 100% certain about that.

Surely Zhou, Tsunoda and Sargeant were chosen for marketing reasons?

I thought Zhou brought sponsorship. Tsunoda had Honda behind him and Sergeant for the US market?

[df76]

Sandpit Steve said:

gt_12345 said:

Geneve said:

gt_12345 said:

She's not in the top 20 drivers in the world so why should she be in F1?

Diverting off topic slightly, I’ve always queried whether the F1 grid really does represent the top drivers in the world.

It didn't used to. Since the spending cap i think it's starting to because paid-drivers have less relevance.

Indeed, the Super Licence and the F1 cost cap has made the field the best ever. It’s fair to say that 19 of the current 20 drivers are primarily there on merit, rather than because they could open the cheque book.

Now obviously getting the super licence in the first place, is an expensive endeavour through the junior series, but there’s also now plenty of driver programmes and sponsorship available if you’re good enough.

Good luck to Jamie for next year. She’s not likely to be the next lady F1 driver, but can still probably get a career out of racing. If she doesn’t make Indycar then there’s FE, and quite a few pro sportscar drives out there for the new Hypercar series, which has attracted a number of factory entries.

Yes, that's the issue. She definitely won't have the budget to work through the required series to access enough Super Licence points, and that's before we start talking about whether she has enough talent. The Indycar move was a good one, but not sure that this year which help to enable that at all. I don't think Hypercar will be possible either, there are many many better options available and no manufacturer will be risking putting her in the car at the moment. In the driver grading system, she's a silver (and there will be hundreds of drivers higher than that)...

Edited by df76 on Tuesday 12th September 07:58

[StevieBee]

Geneve said:

gt_12345 said:

She's not in the top 20 drivers in the world so why should she be in F1?

Diverting off topic slightly, I’ve always queried whether the F1 grid really does represent the top drivers in the world.

Interesting point. 10 years ago I would have said not. But I think this is changing. The teams are in a far better position financially than they have ever been and so are less reliant upon drivers with budgets and thus better placed to hire drivers with skills. I don't think we'll see the like of Mazapin in F1 again.

The paradox is that this may well work against Chadwick. The commercial value of her getting a F1 seat would be significant and in the past, to a level that may well have attracted a struggling team. Not so much the case now.

[carl_w]

andburg said:

She’s apparently 5’3 which puts her 2” shorter than Yuki Tsunoda who is the shortest f1 driver ever.

Taller than Danica Patrick who did OK

[MustangGT]

RacerMike said:

Geneve said:

gt_12345 said:

She's not in the top 20 drivers in the world so why should she be in F1?

Diverting off topic slightly, I’ve always queried whether the F1 grid really does represent the top drivers in the world.

It most definitely doesn’t. I’d say there are probably 4-5 on the grid at any one time who are genuinely right up there, but there are plenty of GT/Prototype drivers out there who would ultimately be just as competitive in F1 as the current grid…

Maybe, maybe not. Hulkenburg is a top level competitor in GT/Prototype racing, but has never done anything of note in F1.

[Sandpit Steve]

gt_12345 said:

Not 100% certain about that.

Surely Zhou, Tsunoda and Sargeant were chosen for marketing reasons?

I thought Zhou brought sponsorship. Tsunoda had Honda behind him and Sergeant for the US market?

Of course there’s always a number of factors in choosing a particular driver over another, and every driver comes with their own positive reasons of nationality and sponsorship that help teams - but these are now secondary characteristics rather than primary in most cases. The budget cap and increasing prize money means that teams don’t need much sponsorship, and the super licence is a severe restriction on the pool of available drivers.

Yes, it’s good to have a Chinese, Japanese, or American driver in your team (or F1 in general), they have a large local market to tap, and usually come with sponsors. It will also be great marketing when a woman is good enough to join the field, as there will be a lot of interest in her.

We won’t see another Mazepin scraping a super licence and buying his way to the top of the queue, although another Stroll probably isn’t out of the question, albeit that the cost of buying a team is now much higher than it used to be.

[DocJock]

carl_w said:

andburg said:

She’s apparently 5’3 which puts her 2” shorter than Yuki Tsunoda who is the shortest f1 driver ever.

Taller than Danica Patrick who did OK

Yuki is 1.59m, which equates to 5' 2.5"

[carl_w]

DocJock said:

Yuki is 1.59m, which equates to 5' 2.5"

Danica is 5' 1.5" (1.56m) according to Wikipedia