Do you think women will ever get there chance in f1

[Jstuff]

I see sarah kavanagh and she tries & tries but is always turned back at every corner.

See missed out on an internation f3000 drive last year because ntl pulled the plug on eurosport in ireland , thus she lost alot of irish sponsorship and missed the drive.

What are your thoughts on a women driver?

[Jay]

Emm... I think it's more a matter that there many many more men competing for the 22 spots than there are women. therefore, the odds of one making it big are much less...

But, there are a few young ones on the rise that show a bit of promise... still, I'd be surprised if they get any higher than F3000 in Europe. Danica Patrick might...just might make it to Cart though.

[neilap]

I think it would be good for F1. Diversity attracts more people, especially if she is fast. It is true though the sport is dominated by men. So a woman would have to be really good to enter F1. I am sure there are many women though that could have done better than some of the failures this season.

[BootsOntheSide]

Many women have tried in top level racing, hwoever none have really shwoed any evidence of being capable of success in F1. I'd be happy to be proven wrong, but whilst Sarah Kavanagh, Sarah Fisher and Danika Patrick aren't bad, and probably better than Yoong, I doubt that a female driver will take to the F1 grid in the future

[Speed]

I saw last Fisher race, and buuuuddy, this woman can kick some @rses at F1...

[Russfeld]

Its a % thing. 99% of male drivers arent competent enough for F1. And there's thousands of male drivers. There's maybe 200female racing drivers at any semi-pro level in the world. So the % are even worse.

[Legend]

There are females there in Formula 1 actually as many as male drivers on the grid haven't you noticed it? They are there at every race!
Please do not say Yoong is slow, he is the greatest driver of all time, he just hides it well.

[Valve Bounce]

I think that women's agents will have to re-think their marketting strategies. First of all, the F1 audience is male dominated, and so the marketting must focus on this :- Mens toileteries as well as perfumes, clothes, jewellery, sports wear, sexy underwear, anything that would create an interest in the male schmuck. On top of this, there are womens wear, perfumes, jewellery, and so on. These products are basically untapped in F1 so far.
Then there is the need to get the women into the sport - and that is the next step. Obviously, testing would be the best avenue because if any woman can top a male during testing, the interest in her could be sensational if properly marketted. As long as she qualifies, then the advertising potential is there.
It is not necessary that she has to be better than the top men; just look at Anna Kournikova - she has never won a tournament, but she is possibly the highest earner in women's tennis sponsorship because she is well marketted.
If women can reach the top in Rallying, then I see no reason why they cannot reach a level to enter F1.

Valve

[Lee Janotta]

Women _have_ started Formula 1 races... But it's always been pay drives, and they've usually been _completely_ talentless. There's _no_ physical reason why a female driver can't succeed in F1... But companies that control the budgets have all built their marketing strategies with heroic (or at least psuedo-heroic) male archetypes driving. Therefore there won't be funding for female drivers to even get to a position where F1 team bosses would notice them, and there certainly won't be opportunities to drive.

There aren't _enough_ women who've had success in feeder series to change the way they're percieved, which sadly is as second-rate (at best) pay-drivers with more of a political agenda than driving talent. Not the truth, but in marketing, it's the perception that counts.

[Russfeld]

A female driver is more marketable than a male. I dont think women are at any disadvantage economically.

[DNQ]

We'll see another women behind the wheel one day, but ultimatly, as Russfeld, pointed out, there aren't that many girls heading towards an F1 dream...Sarah Kavangah will never make it IMO, she is talented, but not F1 class. Althought with the dollars, there is no reason why she couldn't do as well as Yoong, the flying mullet or Marques perhaps.

Danica Patrick does have the potential, but CART is more likely for sure.

[Mal]

I think an F1 team would jump at the chance of having a women. Just think of the commercial oppurtunity and the media exposure they would get. However she would have to able to be competitive otherwise the whole team would be ridiculed. So we will have to wait until one shows up who clearly has the talent. When this happens the teams will be fighting over her.

[KA]

Originally posted by Lee Janotta
But companies that control the budgets have all built their marketing strategies with heroic (or at least psuedo-heroic) male archetypes driving. Therefore there won't be funding for female drivers to even get to a position where F1 team bosses would notice them, and there certainly won't be opportunities to drive.

- I've got a vague recollection of reading an article a few years back about ex-DTM racer Ellen Lohr who found exactly this problem back in the 80s when she tried to step up from German F3 (she was a contemporary of MS in Formula Ford & F3)- despite a decent amount of FF1600 & F3 success, she found it impossible to find a budget for F3000, because it was perceived as being the next step towards F1, and the attitude she faced was that as no woman would ever race in F1 then there was no point in backing her for F3000....

Hence, when BMW offered a full-time touring car ride, she took than and her career went in the direction of the DTM

[garcon]

I think they do very well making the paddock look nice...

Seriously, why is it the one motorsport where women seem to have had more success - rallying - is also one of the most mentally and physically demanding? It certainly shows there's no physical barrier.

[ghinzani]

as long as there are umbrellas!

could you imagine umbrella-boys?? bet that would get more headlines than all the pit popsies put together.... and um... sorry, what? ... yes sorry I was imagining all the pit popsies put together. I'll just go take a cold shower....

[neilap]

Fear is a huge factor too. There is such a thin line between winning and losing in F1 that teams dont like to take chances. For a woman to be a success in F1 she will have to do what all "minorities" have to do, she will have to be better than the rest. I feel a woman will have to take the sport by storm. Its not fair but its life.

[Rob29]

Originally posted by ghinzani
as long as there are umbrellas!

could you imagine umbrella-boys?? bet that would get more headlines than all the pit popsies put together.... and um... sorry, what? ... yes sorry I was imagining all the pit popsies put together. I'll just go take a cold shower....

When Katja Poensgen was racing in the 250cc Motocycle WC last year she did have a grid BOY!

[BootsOntheSide]

"When Katja Poensgen was racing in the 250cc Motocycle WC last year she did have a grid BOY!"

Makes sense to ahve soemone you could reasonably fancy. Doesn't explain why Rubens has a gridgirl though.

[MBR]

I could not remain a casual observer on this question. Until F1 has some marketing clout in the US, there will be no democratizing effect such as having women F1 drivers. Cigarettes and hard drives for sponsors can't match soap powder and home improvement retail chains in drawing an audience willing to support a woman driver.

[Russfeld]

Look at the attention from male fans female drivers receive. They dont have to sell soap powder and Kotex. They can sell beer and computers.

[billyblister]

Its a shame really -

Fear is a huge factor too. There is such a thin line between winning and losing in F1 that teams dont like to take chances

If one of the BIG three took on a (decent) female driver there is a good chance she would be a regular contender for points even if she had a lack of speed (Look at RB and DC)but they are scared.

There is HUGE potential but I could only see a team like Jordan (with the Sarah Kavanagh connection)or maybe Minardi doing so.

You'd think there would at least be a female test driver:confused: :confused:

[Valve Bounce]

x

[Valve Bounce]

I remember someone here telling us that when Michelle Mouton enterred to compete at Pikes Peak, the macho schmucks laughed at her. So she went out and beat all of them, then challenged them to race her downhill if they had the balls - none of them dared to. And guess what, she is a real heart stopper this beautiful chick. I guess too much of this motor racing thing is about men racing each other and too scared to let a woman in because she might beat some of them.

Valve

[Jack racer]

I can think of a few good female drivers but they are not F1 standard then again I think there are a few drivers in F1 that have no more tellent than them and a few that will never make it to F1 that do have the driver skills just not the backing.

[Liz]

No, they will not. Women are not strong enough and they don't fit the image of F1, and as long as a team has its pick of 99 men who are extremely talented or 1 woman who looks good in a Hooters tank top, I doubt the woman will get an offer of a drive (although she will probably get offers of other types.)

Anna Cornucopia can be "successful" in tennis by showing off her breasts and tushie at every possible occasion, but a woman with only those, er, assets would be at a distinct disadvantage when the lights go out and she has to compete with 20 cars full of people who actually know what they are doing. Big breasts will not get you safely through Ste. Devote in Monaco. Especially since nobody can see them when you're in your racing suit.

Should see-through racing suits ever be designed, however, Anna and J-Lo would be naturals in F1 as they could cause all the male drivers to crash and guarantee that all the in-car shots would be focused only on them.