Jamie Chadwick - First competitive female driver in F1?
Discussion
I find the series to be a bit odd at who they are trying to capture as their target audience. My daughter is 5 (nearly 6) she watches some of the F1 and we have watched some of the W series together she finds it confusing as she plays football with the boys at school during PE and dosn't get why the women all do W series and the men do F1 (trying to explain driver ability, marketing and sponsership deals at this age is tough 
)
She does however find the Iron Dames GTE team much more appealing as that is an all girls team "beating the boys"
)She does however find the Iron Dames GTE team much more appealing as that is an all girls team "beating the boys"
LukeBrown66 said:
several women have raced in F1 and done OK in crap cars....
The most successful female F1 driver ever (out of five total) was Lombardi. By successful, I mean that she's the only one to nearly score a point - she was awarded a half point when a GP was finished halfway through, despite being two laps behind, she was technically sixth. The reason she was P6 is that everyone else had broken down, had damage or had crashed out. We could be kind and say at least she was skilled enough to not be one of those that crashed, but in reality she didn't crash because that doesn't tend to happen when you're driving fast enough to be two laps behind part way through a GP!Anyway, half a point and not on merit, a mere technicality. That's the most successful career a woman has ever had in F1. I don't think I'd rate any such driver as 'OK'.
SmoothCriminal said:
If she was bothered with racing in F1 she would have used the 1.5 million free money she got to try and secure a drive.
But she knows she is just not good enough so will continue milking free money while implying toxic masculinity is the reason she hasn't got a drive.
Eh? When has toxic masculinity ever been mentioned or brought into it by her?But she knows she is just not good enough so will continue milking free money while implying toxic masculinity is the reason she hasn't got a drive.
Honestly it’s laughable how many experts there are on here.
TheDeuce said:
The most successful female F1 driver ever (out of five total) was Lombardi. By successful, I mean that she's the only one to nearly score a point - she was awarded a half point when a GP was finished halfway through, despite being two laps behind, she was technically sixth. The reason she was P6 is that everyone else had broken down, had damage or had crashed out. We could be kind and say at least she was skilled enough to not be one of those that crashed, but in reality she didn't crash because that doesn't tend to happen when you're driving fast enough to be two laps behind part way through a GP!
Anyway, half a point and not on merit, a mere technicality. That's the most successful career a woman has ever had in F1. I don't think I'd rate any such driver as 'OK'.
Desire was a far better driver and by and large the best female to drive a F1 car.Anyway, half a point and not on merit, a mere technicality. That's the most successful career a woman has ever had in F1. I don't think I'd rate any such driver as 'OK'.
RacerMike said:
mw88 said:
I don't think the timings will work for her unfortunately - I think she'll end up in a test/reserve role like Wolff was, but she's already (slightly) older than drivers like Norris, Tsunoda, Schumacher and Stroll.
An F1 car is a completely different beast to a 260 BHP W-Series car.
And why exactly is the jump any different for her than it would be for anyone else racing regional F3? Or Formula Renault for that matter (Kimi Raikonnen). There's a lot of indirect/unconscious sexism when it comes to women in motorsport, and you see a lot more comments about the 'step' being big or performing in a faster car being a 'completely different ball game'. Of course it is, but no one ever makes those comments about promising male drivers do they?An F1 car is a completely different beast to a 260 BHP W-Series car.
Jamie is easily quick enough to be good in an F1 car. I indirectly raced her in 2015 in British GT (she tended to be out at the same time as my teamate rather than me) and she was only a little bit off her teamate Ross Gunn despite being 16. Ross is out there now in ALMS winning races and Championships in the GTD class and is one of the fastest GT drivers out there, so she's easily got the pace to win, and even at 16 she was a mature head on young shoulders.
Jamie Chadwick tested a Rodin FZed (which sits between a GP2 car and F1; it's 1.2secs quicker than a GP2 car at their own track) - her best lap was a 45.4sec lap.
Last year Liam Lawson (who's a very good F2 driver and has recently done F1 testing for Alpha Tauri this year) did a 44.6sec lap in the Rodin FZed at their track and admitted the car wasn't fully-optimized at the time, if it had been he said he could've done a high-43 sec lap....
That is the difference between Jamie and the top F2 drivers. Different league.
Ultimately, women competing against men in F1 is like women competing against men in tennis and football; you cannot deny the science, physical advantages and testosterone levels. And testosterone does have a role to play in aggression, killer instinct and race craft.
MustangGT said:
SmoothCriminal said:
If she was bothered with racing in F1 she would have used the 1.5 million free money she got to try and secure a drive.
You would need at least ten times that to be considered for F1.To be honest JC never shone in a series with decent
Competition, the fact she dominated in the W series speaks
Volumes about the class of the field, and is most
Probaly why she stayed in the series.
If she was really any good, then teams in respectable series would have signed her on the spot for the publicity of having a very good capable female driver…
Competition, the fact she dominated in the W series speaks
Volumes about the class of the field, and is most
Probaly why she stayed in the series.
If she was really any good, then teams in respectable series would have signed her on the spot for the publicity of having a very good capable female driver…
The complete and utter drivel still unbelievably spouted by some people on here about physicality being a barrier makes me sick it really does.
There are female fighter pilots. That sentence ALONE ends the argument, a trade far more taxing physically and mentally than driving a bloody car round a track for an hour or so.
It really is that simple, and the only reason it has not happened yet is because there has not been a female single seater racing driver anywhere near good enough to drive at that level. there are no other barriers other than ones already explained.
And the GT racing argument, I would argue sorry that GT racing is more taxing mentally N( not physically) especially in a GT car, you have to have eyes in the back of your head, some of them do double stints, in very hot cars (hotter than F1, no air) , and you have to race others, fuel save, strategy and race your rivals while also constantly moving over for three other faster classes of car.
Different challenges yes, but equally if at times not more challenging than just driving very fast for an hour and half, being treated like God everywhere you walk and having people literally wipe your arse for you every time you need them to.
There are female fighter pilots. That sentence ALONE ends the argument, a trade far more taxing physically and mentally than driving a bloody car round a track for an hour or so.
It really is that simple, and the only reason it has not happened yet is because there has not been a female single seater racing driver anywhere near good enough to drive at that level. there are no other barriers other than ones already explained.
And the GT racing argument, I would argue sorry that GT racing is more taxing mentally N( not physically) especially in a GT car, you have to have eyes in the back of your head, some of them do double stints, in very hot cars (hotter than F1, no air) , and you have to race others, fuel save, strategy and race your rivals while also constantly moving over for three other faster classes of car.
Different challenges yes, but equally if at times not more challenging than just driving very fast for an hour and half, being treated like God everywhere you walk and having people literally wipe your arse for you every time you need them to.
carl_w said:
TheDeuce said:
But not to try and secure a drive at a series more challenging that W, in order to keep momentum and the acquisition of super license points going.
Yes, $1m would pay for a season in F3 and she'd likely attract sponsors. She should go for it, it's better to try and fail etc...
vulture1 said:
She's a PR delight if she ever got to a higher level. But has to prove it in f3 and then f2 first. Or indycar. Great driver who can outrage any of us armchair experts yes.
Take away gender from every single racing driver. The numbers don't add up for her.
It's not about fairness though, it's about the likelihood of her getting a drive in F3 if she pushed in that direction, including part funding herself and balancing the rest via sponsor interest. I think she'd get a seat at a team if she went about it the right way - but she'd have to really want to make it happen.Take away gender from every single racing driver. The numbers don't add up for her.
usn90 said:
To be honest JC never shone in a series with decent
Competition, the fact she dominated in the W series speaks
Volumes about the class of the field, and is most
Probaly why she stayed in the series.
If she was really any good, then teams in respectable series would have signed her on the spot for the publicity of having a very good capable female driver…
That's the kicker.Competition, the fact she dominated in the W series speaks
Volumes about the class of the field, and is most
Probaly why she stayed in the series.
If she was really any good, then teams in respectable series would have signed her on the spot for the publicity of having a very good capable female driver…
If a woman comes along who's good enough every team will be tripping over themselves to sign her.
The various advantageous angles write themselves.
LukeBrown66 said:
The complete and utter drivel still unbelievably spouted by some people on here about physicality being a barrier makes me sick it really does.
There are female fighter pilots. That sentence ALONE ends the argument, a trade far more taxing physically and mentally than driving a bloody car round a track for an hour or so.
It really is that simple, and the only reason it has not happened yet is because there has not been a female single seater racing driver anywhere near good enough to drive at that level. there are no other barriers other than ones already explained.
And the GT racing argument, I would argue sorry that GT racing is more taxing mentally N( not physically) especially in a GT car, you have to have eyes in the back of your head, some of them do double stints, in very hot cars (hotter than F1, no air) , and you have to race others, fuel save, strategy and race your rivals while also constantly moving over for three other faster classes of car.
Different challenges yes, but equally if at times not more challenging than just driving very fast for an hour and half, being treated like God everywhere you walk and having people literally wipe your arse for you every time you need them to.
There are female fighter pilots. That sentence ALONE ends the argument, a trade far more taxing physically and mentally than driving a bloody car round a track for an hour or so.
It really is that simple, and the only reason it has not happened yet is because there has not been a female single seater racing driver anywhere near good enough to drive at that level. there are no other barriers other than ones already explained.
And the GT racing argument, I would argue sorry that GT racing is more taxing mentally N( not physically) especially in a GT car, you have to have eyes in the back of your head, some of them do double stints, in very hot cars (hotter than F1, no air) , and you have to race others, fuel save, strategy and race your rivals while also constantly moving over for three other faster classes of car.
Different challenges yes, but equally if at times not more challenging than just driving very fast for an hour and half, being treated like God everywhere you walk and having people literally wipe your arse for you every time you need them to.
LukeBrown66 said:
The complete and utter drivel still unbelievably spouted by some people on here about physicality being a barrier makes me sick it really does.
There are female fighter pilots. That sentence ALONE ends the argument, a trade far more taxing physically and mentally than driving a bloody car round a track for an hour or so.
Slight interjection here.There are female fighter pilots. That sentence ALONE ends the argument, a trade far more taxing physically and mentally than driving a bloody car round a track for an hour or so.
It isn’t possible to directly compare the physical forces endured by a formula race car driver with a fighter pilot.
Whilst the fighter pilot can experience 2-3 times the G forces, the combination of heat, duration and physical workload on the race car driver, particularly without pas (F2, F3?) is much more demanding.
Top level race car drivers require a higher level of physical fitness than most fighter pilots.
Geneve said:
Slight interjection here.
It isn’t possible to directly compare the physical forces endured by a formula race car driver with a fighter pilot.
Whilst the fighter pilot can experience 2-3 times the G forces, the combination of heat, duration and physical workload on the race car driver, particularly without pas (F2, F3?) is much more demanding.
Top level race car drivers require a higher level of physical fitness than most fighter pilots.
Agreed. The two really don't compare.It isn’t possible to directly compare the physical forces endured by a formula race car driver with a fighter pilot.
Whilst the fighter pilot can experience 2-3 times the G forces, the combination of heat, duration and physical workload on the race car driver, particularly without pas (F2, F3?) is much more demanding.
Top level race car drivers require a higher level of physical fitness than most fighter pilots.
Apart from anything else an F1 driver has to be minded to always go for an opportunity even if it carries risk, a pilot on the other hand seeks to avoid threat and danger at every stage and any danger that does come their way is going to be a situation someone else had put them in, not one they went looking for.
A contemporary fighter pilot can expect a career with nothing other than discipline and training and orders, any conflict they do get involved in they'll almost certainly be expecting to be safely in and out before whatever damage they were there to create has caused a reaction that could directly affect them.
Two entirely different mindsets and I think the mindset difference between men and women is probably a bigger deal than eithers ability to reach a required level physical ability.
Most of the previous posters agree that Jamie's been in a class of one during her time in the series, and that moving to a faster, more prestigious formula would probably be a step too far.
We may have missed the boat if it's Curtains for Formula W, but what if the winner's prize would have been an F3 drive with a decent team, take it or leave it? And each of the series' drivers had 1 year only in to prove themselves? Jamie would have had her chance to shine, and an even higher calibre driver may have come along.
We may have missed the boat if it's Curtains for Formula W, but what if the winner's prize would have been an F3 drive with a decent team, take it or leave it? And each of the series' drivers had 1 year only in to prove themselves? Jamie would have had her chance to shine, and an even higher calibre driver may have come along.
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