The first F1 Lady has gone... Maria Teresa de Filippis https://youtube.com/watch?v=Torhud70I88 Image Unavailable, Please Login
+1 RIP. It's a little surprising to me that we haven't seen more female jockeys over the years. They're (typically ) teeny, which as we know is good. There's no 'physical' reason they're not strong enough to do it. Would be great for the sport if we had one or two out there IMO. Cheers, Ian
RIP None really good enough, sad to say. Carmen Jorda was less than impressive in GP3. Susie Wolff, despite many years in DTM, only had 2 point finishes. IIRC her top 10 finishes can be counted on one hand... Alice Powell won British Formula Renault BARC and moved to GP3 where she only scored a single point. Simona de Silvestro was ok in the States in minor series, but any races in slightly higher rated series...it's the same story. Same goes for Victoria Piria (personal fav of mine ), Beitske Visser and the rest. They don't suck. It's just that there are a lot of people who are a bit better, and also can't get a drive. Formula 1 is one of the toughest competitions to get in, even the likes of Stoffel Van Doorne isn't even in it at the moment. It's an absurd goal for anyone, let alone for women. Racing is tough for them in any case. Rich guys who can afford to race in GT3 or GTE, and need a co driver are surely a bit hesitant at hiring a female co driver of their caliber, because which ever way you turn it, it's a tad embarrassing for most if they get beaten by a woman; it's a lot easier to swallow when beaten by a male pro driver. Male ego etc. The girls will do well in tin tops.
Watch out for this girl; Sophia Floersch: The 14-year-old girl worth watching for Watched her through last year and she often made the rest of the field look like they were out for a Sunday drive. A star of the future no doubt.
RIP. Cool UBS ad This ad must of been produced the same day for Maserati [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWkBAE56C_s[/ame] I don't find it surprising at all, it's just maths In what way would F1 improve by having a woman driver? It's bad enough we still have paid drivers (outside of their early seasons). Having a paid woman driver does nothing besides make her a side show. Until they are winning in GP2, GP3, Reno 3.5 or F3 there really is no point having them in F1. Even Maldonado the least favourite paid driver had 10 wins in GP2.
? Not following you here.... Mathematically, there's as many girls as boys out there...... Not a huge deal I guess, but I reckon audience figures would increase were it to happen. As long as she's there due to talent, not money or hype, I for one would love to see it. Would it 'improve the sport'? Maybe not, but neither do I think it would hurt. Cheers, Ian
Only a very small percentage of girls are interested in racing cars and even smaller percentage of that pool have the skills to make it to the top. Probably female athletes that make the Olympics have the skills for F1 but they pick those other sports instead. I doubt it. Audience figures are down because the racing is boring and too many rich kids are in it. Anyway unless you get a cut of F1 profits who cares about audience figures Well its up to them
RIP. A disciplined and capable driver according to Fangio in his autobiography "My Twenty Years of Racing", which is as good as a review one could get I guess. I just read this (probably again). Even though he was concerned about a woman driving a racing car. It does slightly irritate me though that we rate F1 so overly highly and close to ignore the racing and drivers before it became F1. F1 was but, or simply, the formation of a championship to create a champion from existing races that had been run for well over 20 to 40 years before. Helle Nice was genuinely very competitive and the first woman, that I am aware of, at this level. Pete
Yes and no. Yes because the racing is pretty boring, but not because of the rich kids. Racing has always been a sport for the rich. A competitive kart season will cost you well into 6 figures already. And that's bloody karting! Nothing a pauper can pay for. So many kids are karting, many with loaded parents, so the poor ones wanting to step up to proper karting need sponsors already. Little money in the world for this sort of activity + lots of kids being claimed as the next F1 star by their parents = tough to get an actual sponsor. It's only logic that anyone in racing comes from a well off family. Sure...40 years ago it was different maybe (cost of lower formulaes was a lot less) but you still needed a sack of money that not just anyone could get. Running around after a ball on a field or hitting one with a golf club is suddenly a lot more attractive to daddies wallet...
There are smaller numbers of girls who want to be racing drivers. From a young age, girls are given toy horses rather than model racecars. So they're pushed away from it, really. Assuming you have a girl who wants to be a racing driver, are her parents likely to be as ready to support that as they would a boy who wanted to be a racing driver? At each stage, the numbers are reduced in comparison to male candidates. I assume it has been much harder for a female driver to get taken seriously early on and get the same support into the sport as a similarly gifted male, but times and attitudes are changing. I think we'll see more women drivers in future and eventually a female WDC. It's inevitable. All the best, Andrew.
Sorry but you completely missed the point. I know exactly how expensive the sport has always been since the beginning, but no one wants to see whiny rich kids in racing and some people are being put off by it which shows with the lack of people attending races in a lot of European tracks. On top of the boring racing. Once you become a WDC then you can act how you like I don't see it happening any time soon. I think the mother/dad/daughter relationship has a bigger part than toys. Look at the Schumie family. His son is into racing but his daughter is into horse.... ummm things Corinna used to compete in the World Equestrian championships so she obviously steered her daughter into the horse stuff. Even Maria Teresa wasn't into cars but horses to begin with Interview from 2006
I think we're saying the same thing there. We just disagree on whether that's changing. All the best, Andrew.
Sad news. I met her at the Enstal Classic 2010, when she was driving her Maserati 200F Monoposto at the age of 84! Very impressive and nice lady. See my pic from 2010 when she autographed my book: Image Unavailable, Please Login
Very cool! (Both her driving that beast at 84 & you getting your book signed!) Back on the male/female debate; I certainly get that more boys than girls are likely to be 'gear heads', but there's really no reason for that other than stereotypes IMO. Parental influence is the key.... If Mom & Dad want it, and have the all important budget, it'll happen. Cheers, Ian
