FIA wants more women in motor racing
The FIA’s Women and Motor Sport Commission met for the first time yesterday and set itself the target of “facilitating the full participation of women in all aspects of motor sport.”
Like many branches of motor sport, few women have made a mark in F1 as drivers. The last woman to compete in F1 was Giovanna Amati 18 years ago.
However there are several women working for teams in both technical and non-technical roles, such as Sauber’s managing director Monisha Kaltenborn.
Jean Todt set up the commission shortly after becoming FIA president. He said:
The FIA’s membership around the world comprises men and women; each has an identical part to play in sport. Like many international federations, we will support, promote and help advance the participation of women in motor sport to ensure equal opportunities at all levels.
Jean Todt
The president of the WMC is former rally driver Michele Mouton, the only woman to win a round of the World Rally Championship. She said:
Women already have their place in motor sport; they have proved it. But for many years people have asked me why there have been no women following in my footsteps. I really hope the Commission can help answer that question and that we can attract and support women in all areas of our sport.
Michele Mouton
I believe motor racing has a great opportunity to set itself apart from most other sports by allowing men and women to compete against each other, rather than in separate divisions. I think this is a wholly worthwhile initiative from the FIA. What’s your opinion?
Jean Todt’s Approval Ratings
slr said on 27th April 2010, 18:20
Well at the moment, the only woman who I can think of that qualifies for a superlicence is Danica Patrick.
wasiF1 said on 28th April 2010, 2:35
She can in F1 as she is qualify for that but will she?
Rob said on 28th April 2010, 10:32
I would say that Katherine Legge, having raced in top-level single seaters in the US for a few years is more than eligible for a Superlicence.
TommyB said on 28th April 2010, 15:00
People fail to remember that Danica is pretty damn poor at the street circuits. She does OK on ovals but on street tracks she’ll often be found in about 15th place or lower.
matt90 said on 27th April 2010, 18:26
I suppose that an interest in racing often stems from an interest in cars, and cars happen to be perceived as more ‘masculine.’ Less women are interested in cars and in motorsport, and therefore there are few with the desire to actually race themselves. Bit of a shame, and I guess the difficulty (by which I mean price) of competing means that women who are casually interested can’t easily try their hand at it to see if it is actually something they would enjoy and like to take up.
sato113 said on 28th April 2010, 2:25
very well put matt.
Scribe said on 28th April 2010, 10:46
I read something on James Allens blog that talks about this masculine bias in motor racing.
He said girls are often very compatative at lower levels an karting but then have trouble getting any further because no one takes them seriously. We could have lost possible champions over the years, we’ve definatley lost race winners.
Joe said on 28th April 2010, 13:36
Honestly, unless you come from a bunch of money, casually competing in a way that could get you anywhere significant is quite difficult to do regardless of gender.
Mike said on 29th April 2010, 12:35
“unless you come from a bunch of money”
Casually competing at all is difficult, let alone in a way where you could hope to advance.
Skett said on 27th April 2010, 18:53
I don’t understand all this trying to get more women in thing tbh. Surely they should both have the same chance? As someone above me said, not many women get into racing because its not exactly feminine so there aren’t many that will reach the upper echelons. If you start making concessions for women you aren’t exactly keeping it as the best drivers are you?
If they get picked over a male driver because a team thinks it’ll be good for them, fair enough. But the FIA now getting in on it? It just seems a little off to me.
I suppose it just depends what they do, if all they want to do is get more women into racing, then its all good. I just don’t know how they’d go about it. Barbies first F1 car?
Hallard said on 27th April 2010, 23:02
Barbie’s first F1 car was actually the 2006 Williams FW28 :)
Prateek said on 28th April 2010, 3:48
It was just a matter of time … [:D]
maciek said on 27th April 2010, 23:18
“If you start making concessions for women you aren’t exactly keeping it as the best drivers are you”
Where did you read something about making concessions, exactly?
Skett said on 28th April 2010, 0:11
The simple fact is that there aren’t many female drivers, so assuming the same percentage have the ability to be in f1 then the numbers tiny (assuming there are more able drivers than f1 positions). Trying to attract more female drivers seems a little daft, if they’re racers I doubt they’d turn down an f1 drive!
So although it didn’t say that, they’d kind of have to (unless they are lucky enough to find one who really is good, in which case it would be good for the sport).
What I meant was that if they rush through a female driver whos not ready it’ll only be bad for the sport, and female drivers hoping to get in.
@Hallard
Whys that? All I remember about it was that it was quick but broke down all the time! (and it wasn’t pink or anything)
maciek said on 28th April 2010, 8:51
But this is all just assumptions on your part.
you say: “The simple fact is that there aren’t many female drivers, so assuming the same percentage have the ability to be in f1 then the numbers tiny ”
The question being: does the low number of female drivers reflect women’s low potential, or does it reflect conditions in which women young girls don’t have nearly the same positive vibe surrounding their interest in racing that boys do? This isn’t about pushing women through the categories – it’s about changing attitudes at the very earliest stages of driver development.
Skett said on 28th April 2010, 11:38
If you’re right and thats what it is, then I’m all for it. I just get the impression its about more than that.
Hallard said on 28th April 2010, 17:32
@Skett-
It was a Nico Rosberg joke :)
Skett said on 28th April 2010, 20:08
lol, sorry not been too quick as of late. Exams have worn by brain out!
Wesley said on 28th April 2010, 20:35
So,Schuey is getting beaten by Barbie.Man…thats gotta be embarrassing!
Actually Nico’s mechanics refer to him as “Britney”….I read that here or Autosport.
Brits on Pole said on 27th April 2010, 19:05
It’s happening. Girls are now taking up karting from the age of eight, just like boys, and some serious talent is coming through the ranks. Also, have a look at the Ginetta Juniors entry list.
Or consider the careers of Ana Beatriz, Simona de Silvestro or Sarah Fisher (an immensely popular team owner as well as a driver) in the US – where racing is a much more woman-friendly environment than in Europe.
So there’s no actual need for gripes about unfairness or snide remarks about Barbie dolls. It’s happening.
Sorry and all.
Ratboy said on 27th April 2010, 20:39
Sarah Moore in the Ginetta junior championship has some potential, I’ve seen her race before.
Will be interesting too see how she progresses from there.
TommyB said on 28th April 2010, 15:02
I think to get into F1 people need to go Karting > Formula Renault > GP2 > F1 kind of route instead of racing in saloon racing. I don’t think anyone will get into F1 from saloon racing anymore.
J.A. Summers said on 29th April 2010, 17:50
Simona De Silvestro, right now, is the only female driver I can see making it into Formula 1. Maybe her countrywoman Natascha Gachnang as well, but Simona seems to have a little more talent. I am deeply rooting for her, and really hope she will be in F1 one day.
Icthyes said on 27th April 2010, 19:16
If a girl wants to get into karting, go through the junior formulae, and is good enough to enter F1 at the end of it all, good for her – we’ll see you in twelve years, it’ll be nice to have you.
But I don’t see how pushing the issue is going to make it any more likely. As it is, there’s not even enough boys being encouraged to start on the long ladder. Maybe the problem of money should be being addressed before the “problem” of gender.
vettelfan said on 27th April 2010, 21:03
Totally agree with you. The money issue needs to be addressed before any gender issue.
steph said on 27th April 2010, 21:16
“Maybe the problem of money should be being addressed before the “problem” of gender.”
Funnily enough I’m writing a uni assignment tackling exactly that right now. You read my mind! :D
matt90 said on 27th April 2010, 22:23
What course is that for?
steph said on 27th April 2010, 23:26
@matt90 English Literature and Journalism. I decided to focus one of my features on this a while back.
matt90 said on 28th April 2010, 2:14
I considered journalism briefly, and if I’d gone for it I would probably have tried a tie-in with F1 too.
LookingSpiffy said on 27th April 2010, 21:29
Good stuff – I wonder if the WMC is going to create an initiative similar to Go Motorsport?
The only reason I’m slightly cautious about this is if it becomes too based on gender. What I mean by that is, if someone gets into one of motorsport’s top classes and also happens to be a woman, brilliant. If they get into one of motorsport’s top classes because they’re a woman…that’s when it becomes problematic. I think it could be a similar problem to that of pay drivers or famous surnames – getting a drive for reasons other than ability.
I’m sure this is absolutely the last thing the WSC intends to cultivate and it’d be an issue for teams rather than an FIA issue, but the worry is there for me.
BasCB said on 28th April 2010, 7:49
When women are few to come by in racing it can be a marketing advantage to have one driving in a team though.
The problem is our cultural views only now starting to get used to changing the roles of the sexes as we got used to them in the whole western civilization since the industrial revolution, and in the 800 years before that.
LookingSpiffy said on 28th April 2010, 10:54
That’s exactly it. I know money’s tight these days for some teams, but getting in an at best average female driver for the primary reasons that she’s marketable to fans and will pull in sponsors creates the same problem as that of the pay driver – and I’m fairly convinced that she’d get more grief for being ‘averagely talented’ than a man would.
Scribe said on 28th April 2010, 10:52
I thik what we want to avoid is too strong positive descrimination. I mean we have a problem but what we don’t want is a female Nakajima, pushed up here through vested intrests.
we wnat a Vettle, or a the very least a Coulthard, someone who can win an help reduce the stigma. In someways it would be good if she wasn’t a stunningly good looking woman but that is entirley by the by. Once a women wins a race hopefully the flood gates open a little bit an we get a healthy mix, because right now, in our modern society, it’s a wee bit disgraceful.
steph said on 28th April 2010, 11:06
Completely agree with you Scribe. I’ve always felt too strong a stance towards positive discrimination is still not really a fix as it still includes ‘discrimination’.
I also agree that looks shouldn’t matter. It’s a big shame we can’t just have women racers coming and coming in the sport like men. If a woman fails it’ll be said that it’;s because she is a woman. Equally, there will be some upset when a woman wins and no doubt the male drivers will get stick. It’s an area where a breakthrough is needed.
I’m convinced there is a female racer -if not several – out there right now who could make it but as many have pointed out wisely before me, it is at the grass roots where it first needs to be dealt with.
I’m quite liberal and also have believed in equality of opportunity for all when it comes to any issue. I may disagree wholeheartedly with some comments which have appeared but they are enlightening as quite a few people outside of this website still think in that way and it shows just what female racers are up against and I think they’re very brave for their career choice when they really shouldn’t need to be. This shouldn’t even be an issue in a postmodern society, it says a lot that it still is.
LookingSpiffy said on 28th April 2010, 11:20
Positive discrimination, that’s a fantastic term. Similar to what I was getting at.
TommyB said on 28th April 2010, 15:04
I think Danica’s win in Indy will get a lot more girls into motor sport. Obviously it wasn’t that long ago but in a few years time maybe a few will come up through the ranks.
LookingSpiffy said on 27th April 2010, 21:32
Sorry Icthyes, didn’t intend to reply to your comment – women and computers, eh? ;)
Joe said on 28th April 2010, 13:56
The money problem is really more a non-gender issue and should affect both genders equally. The real problem in racing is subtle, but strong, sexism. It is seen in pretty much any field where men have classically dominated, such as hard sciences and engineering (and in the past journalism, nursing, most any other type of work that wasn’t being a sales clerk). I have quite a few female friends that started out in engineering and were REALLY good at all of the basics (Calculus, Physics, Statics, etc.), however probably 2/3 of them dropped out due to pressures that they felt were applied to them subtly by male professors and students (both male and female, the latter would be like “why would you do that” in a disparaging tone) (male drop out rate was ~40%). They always had something to prove and had a hard time dealing with it. Even now, if you looke at two hard sciences that 40 years ago were male dominated, biology and chemistry, you will find that >50% of graduates from college are actually female. In car racing, I think any woman that has the right competitive spirit and skill should be able to thrive and is one of the few sports where testosterone doesn’t give a HUGE anabolic advantage. The biggest problem is convincing them it is worth competing and convincing others that they are worth having.
RandomChimp said on 29th April 2010, 10:30
You say that testosterone doesn’t give a huge advantage, but I recall Martin Brundle saying last year that the main reason there weren’t so many women in motor sport (particularly very high level motor sport) was physical strength (high g-forces etc.).
This could be a factor of why Danica Patrick is supposedly (I’ve never seen her race and haven’t ever seen an Indy race either) ok on ovals but not so good on tracks that have bends without banking.
RandomChimp said on 29th April 2010, 10:31
* and heavy breaking.
Marc Connell said on 27th April 2010, 19:47
i see no difference between male and female drivers. There both human and both have a brain. Except one of them shouldnt be out the kitchen. But if she goes up through the ranks like any other driver thats fine!
F1silverarrows said on 27th April 2010, 19:52
I thought women didn’t have the strength/adrenaline/reflex’s to compete with men in this sport? I’m not knocking it being tried, by all means try to win a WDC. It’s just you dont see women in every other modern day sport with men included…..except darts and golf I think.
And for the love of all that is holy don’t allow these “women” pink cars if they do get in(drinks expensive whisky like a snob).
And also what happens when the guys start getting ideas with sexy women drivers? you will also be seeing divorces happening on the circuit because “Mrs Hamilton” cut up “Mr Hamilton”, be like a soap channel every week………the horror, THE HORROR!!!!!
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 27th April 2010, 20:38
Comments like that show why they need all the help they can get.
Tim said on 27th April 2010, 21:40
Um, I think you need to check who gave the second quote above – Michele Mouton, who contested the World Rally Championship in the days when rallies were more like endurance events, winning rallies and coming close to winning the title in 1982.
Mouton also competed at Le Mans and won the Pikes Peak Hillclimb. She quit rallying when the Group B supercars were banned in the mid-1980s – the replacement Group A formula wasn’t fast enough for her taste. Lack of strength/adrenaline/reflexes?
I don’t think we’ve seen a woman given a fair crack at F1. Lella Lombardi drove for the works March team in the 1970s but was given a duff chassis and never had a level playing field with team mate Vittorio Brambilla. Davina Galica had three F1 starts but only in non-works Surtees and Heskeths – although she did take a podium in the shortlived British F1 series. Desire Wilson impressed in a non-works Williams in testing before the 1980 British GP but was given a different car for the event and failed to qualify. Wilson was also impressive in the non-championship 1981 South African GP and won a round of the British F1 series.
sfbrij said on 28th April 2010, 6:38
Two things @F1silverarrows:
1) Go read up on sex-related differences in performance – while many women (and men) may not be able to handle an F1 car, we are talking about people in the 99th %ile, which makes them far above their sex-related average. Also, it’s “reflexes”, not “reflex’s”; if you’re going to go on the offensive, run a spellcheck.
2) Drivers have (albeit non-romantic) personal loyalties within the paddock as it is, and nobody gives each other special treatment – out there, they’re all just racers and they all just want to place as far forward as possible. Why would it be any different if women started racing? Also, who says the young, pretty, girl-racer eye-candy would be into the other drivers (or, for that matter, men in general)?
F1silverarrows said on 28th April 2010, 11:43
@sfbrij
I think you took my post a “little” bit too seriously. Where was I on the offensive in that post?
Read the post again “I thought (meaning I thought, however ((ignorant)) it may sound) women couldn’t keep up with the men in any sport” how is that offensive? If i was to go offensive on that I would say:”Women have no chance why bother, they are nothing to the men in any sport”
Didn’t the (drinking like a snob) give the hint I was being (abit) sarcastic on that paragraph and afterwards, or do I have to put (sarcasm) in every paragraph now to make sure I don’t hurt anybody’s feelings?
If your going to word/grammer check me please do because this is a formula 1 blog not a english test, so I don’t see why I should use a computer to make me sound more “grammer correct”, since I’m not that vain or paranoid to making mistakes.
I apologize in advance to anybody who took that post the wrong way. The middle and last paragraphs I did are me being (joke, sarcastic) I just thought people had a sense of humour in the modern day world….
I also apologize to keith for making this an awarkward situation in his blog.
sfbrij said on 29th April 2010, 7:53
@F1SilverArrows
I’m sorry, I genuinely thought you were being a ****head! And I apologise for the snarky pluralisation comment – the education’s failure to teach people to use correct grammar is a bugbear that comes out particularly strongly when I’m feeling self-righteous.
I would also like to apologise to Kweith for my behaviour!
F1silverarrows said on 29th April 2010, 13:43
No problem, it happens. we are all old enough to debate, argue and carry on.
Even I misread certain paragraphs when I read posts.
Sometimes I have to read 3 or 4 times over to make sure I portrayed it right when defining real to sarcasm. so tbh it’s water under the bridge for me because it’s just a misunderstanding.
I posted that 2 days ago and then yesterday getting jumped being told off lol. I was like, “what did I do?…………oh, I don’t think I put myself across very well that time.”
so again, no problem water under the bridge, was my fault not putting enough “detail” in that post.
David said on 1st December 2010, 9:25
What an ignorent comment
2 Minutes To Midnight said on 27th April 2010, 20:27
I agree with FIA. A woman driver can be good for F1′s publicity. Just look at Indy Car, why is Indy Car become more popular nowadays? Because of Danica Patrick (she even got an awart for most popular driver.)
macahan said on 28th April 2010, 0:43
Don’t forget that you also have Simona De Silvestro, Milka Duno, Ana Beatriz and Sarah Fisher. Sara Fisher owns her own team but only raced 1 car so far (herself and one guy is listed but yet not raced). All of these in Indycar this year.
Danica is of course the most successful of them all but also the one that raced the longest and has had some good success. BTW how easy isn’t that green godaddy car to spot on the track? ;)
LewisC said on 27th April 2010, 20:31
There are women in lower levels of motorsport and of course a couple of them in the DTM (including Susie Stoddart) – and Buemi’s cousin Natacha Gachnang.
I think these days the physical requirements are less of a problem (although more than they were in 2008 with TC and so on) and sooner or later there will be another female driver: but it’s more likely to be in a lower level team, like Virgin maybe, who will use her as part of their marketing.
Hallard said on 27th April 2010, 23:05
I certainly wouldnt put it past Branson to do something like that!
sfbrij said on 28th April 2010, 6:40
He tried. I remember a statement from earlier in the year when Branson commented that he’d wanted Danica to add eye-candy to his team (BTW, totally the wrong reason to hire a driver! That said, the Virgin team do look like a boy band in publicity shots), but she’d turned him down in favour of the IndyCar drive.
Scribe said on 28th April 2010, 10:57
Which turned out to be totaly the right descision. Imagine her sitting there in spain knowing glocks got a full tank an this thing is definatley about to burst.
Ray Gorman said on 27th April 2010, 20:40
If they cared to do it and had commensurate talent, there are plenty of opportunities. There doesn’t appear to be any ban or un-written rule against women, just lack of interest as a career except for a few.
Today’s world offers opportunity to those who want to go out and get it. Like Soccer/football, many start in karting, but few make it all the way.
The Genuine Jim said on 27th April 2010, 20:43
It’s all well and good encouraging Women into F1, and motorsport in general, but there is no need to force to issue.
There is no difference between male and female drivers. Once you put on that helmet nobody can tell or care whether you are male or female, black or white. Then only results count.
Jack Sargeant said on 27th April 2010, 20:45
Apologies if I’m being overly PC, but I think that comments such as “Barbies first F1 car” and the pink car comment are way wide of the mark.
The fact is women drivers are becoming more and more involved in motorsport, along with the names already mentioned there are Alice Powell, Natacha Gachnang and a some DTM drivers.
They can and will drive in Formula 1, and the sooner the better.
Scott Joslin said on 27th April 2010, 21:02
I agree, I think it is a very worthwhile initiative. I see no reason why women cannot make the top level of the sport, especially if they are talented and are physically fit enough, both those characteristics are the same for men to make it to the top level of Motorsport.
It would be interesting to know from any Women who are in motorsport what they think are the elements that seem to be working against them, is it the grass roots system? is it finding commercial support from a backer for their career? are the public interested in seeing women in motorsport? or is it because it is a male dominated sport. I am sure most of these can be overcome if the talent in there.
maciek said on 27th April 2010, 21:09
@ Jack Sargeant – Absolutely agreed – and to my mind it’s got nothing to do with PC. Whenever there’s mention of women in racing, these kinds of comments come out of the woodwork real quick.
There’s absolutely nothing in those FIA statements to make me think that the FIA is going to “push” women into or onto motorsport, F1 included. The point of taking some sort of action on women in motorsports – you blockheads – is not to make it easier for women to get into racing than it is for men, but to give them the same opportunities. What’s that? They have them already? Huh – so I guess every young boy who wants to go racing gets looked at funny, and then if he makes it gets treated ‘special’, and then later has to read tripe like that they “shouldnt be out the kitchen” by Marc Connell, above.
Funny but somehow there’s lots of men who don’t get defensive when it comes to women, and yet you guys are the ones who yell loudest about how (in some vague undefined way) it will be bad if we pay more attention to whether all people really do have the same opportunities. Now why is that?
steph said on 27th April 2010, 21:15
Maciek I think you’re spot on. I think it should be about equality of opportunity completely. It’s bad for the sport too if it doesn’t happen as it just locks out talent.
steph said on 27th April 2010, 21:13
I think it’s got a good sentiment but I don’t see why it’s such an issue. It would be nice if there was a woman racer in F1 but I can’t say I’m gutted there isn’t one. Gender means nothing to me, I just want to see damn good racers.
If a woman wants to be in F1 then she has to earn it like everyone else. I don’t want it where only women are looked at to fill some social quota or because it looks good.
I don’t even see why it needs talking about much. I know there are quite a few who think F1 should just be a mans’ sport yet there are others on the other extreme who want to shove women with bright pink helmets in cars to get some good publicity. Neither are right and both are actually quite ignorant, but it should just take a natural course. One day there will be a woman WDC but I don’t think this is an issue that needs forcing, maybe at the grassroots women could be encouraged to do racing or engineering or whatever if they want or perhaps just known that they have options but then it should just be up to the individual.
macahan said on 28th April 2010, 2:25
I got an idea.. Allow third cars but ONLY if the third car is driven by a woman… =)
Ferrari get their third car, FIA get their woman in driving and the rest of us gets more enjoyment. =)
steph said on 28th April 2010, 11:07
That’s, two evils though 1/ 3rd cars and 2/ just having women there to fill a gap and some quota doesn’t achieve anything. It makes it worse.