Parc Ferme: A Female Formula 1 Driver?

Namely, those who believe that her comments regarding the likelihood of a female achieving racing success in F1 were inappropriate. Curious about what it was she had said to earn her the ire of her gender, I decided to investigate.

The offending observations were apparently made during F1’s new juniors program when a young girl asked her what it would take for a woman to become an F1 race driver. From what I understand, Patrick intimated two things that she felt were barriers.

Firstly, they (women) tend not to be aggressive enough. In this sense, I think she meant women generally lack the masculine kill/destroy sociopathy possessed by most F1 drivers. Secondly, any female who is aggressive enough (herself as an example) is, by her species predilections, likely to number less than in men.

According to her critics, these two remarks will discourage young girls from becoming race drivers. Especially when made by someone who knows what they are talking about. This is opposed to someone who doesn't, beguiling them that they can. However, anyone who can be so easily dissuaded from becoming a race driver should definitely live it vicariously through the TV.

Danica has also indicated another, and arguably bigger, barrier. The F1 Academy, previously known as Formula W. This exclusively female series, in her view, does not help the cause. Suggesting that if women are going to compete with men, then they really need to do just that.

I would agree with this. The F1 Academy thing is all a little, “You girls play over there and be quiet whilst the men do the real stuff”. If I were a woman, I would find this patronising, yet Patrick’s critics are silent on this point.

F1 is an ultra-competitive business; Teams sign drivers who they think can bring in points (money). Why would you employ someone who has not proved themselves in the most competitive junior categories?

Jamie Chadwick is a prime example here. After winning both incarnations of the female-only Championships, she secured nothing more than a development driver role at Williams. You know, the one where you get to keep the Sim seat warm. I’d wager she would have fared better if she had competed in the mainstream junior Formulas.

There has been a laudable effort to promote women in F1 across the board, and with great success. Young female engineers are increasingly populating the pit boxes. Red Bull’s Hannah Schmitz is arguably the best Strategy Engineer in F1 (there are actually four in total).

However, on the competition side, zilch. If F1 really wants to find a female race driver who can take it to the guys, it should scrap the F1 Academy and create a ladder through F3 and F2. Then, if they're good enough, they will surely get picked up by one of the teams. Another more radical approach would be to declare every F1 team must have a female driver, although I’m not sure anyone is ready for that one.

Those who take umbrage of Patrick’s comments should note that women have intermittently competed in F1 since 1958. They have also been actively promoted in motorsport as drivers for years, with some enjoying notable success in the lower tiers.

However, Lella Lombardi is the only one to have scored World Championship points back in the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix. Out of the others, of which I counted a further four, three failed to qualify. The fourth and first woman to take part in an F1 race - Maria Teresa de Filippis, managed 10th place in the Belgian Grand Prix of 1958.

Apart from Lombardi and Fillipis, the others have ostensively underlined Danica's message. i.e., the chances of a female being competitive in the top tier of motorsport are slim.

However, it’s ironic that those who want to push the possibility of it happening also want to run out of town, someone who has evidenced it’s possible.