Can Susie Wolff make it into F1?

[bella]

lest we forget that everyone's favourite angolan has had quite a few pedals in the caterham f1 car in the past.

[ensign14]

Originally Posted by BSchneiderFan

I can't believe we're seriously wondering whether a driver who has never won a car race should be in Formula 1.

Pedro Diniz.

Originally Posted by Mekola

I want wildcards in F1. One-offs. In that mood, I could see easily the presence of Susie Wolff in a couple of GPs. A full season is not needed for her to say hello to F1, and to make her landmark. Remember Lella Lombardi.

Lombardi won world championship races in sportscars and was never disgraced in lower formulae.

If we want women in F1, Wolff would put the cause back 20 years. Bit like Giovanna Amati did.

[JeremySmith]

Susie Wolff does not stand a hope in hell of racing a F1 car...

God bless her....

[BSchneiderFan]

I know Diniz had never won, and he wasn't in F1 for his talent. But the standard is higher today than fifteen or twenty years ago. Besides, at least he produced one of the best headlines of F1 when his car caught fire.

[bella]

i don't think it's particularly much higher. i think it's probably easier to reach a decent level of competitiveness if you don't have quite as much talent as the next guy by practice and really working hard at the stuff around the edges. it takes commitment, a bit of brain and a lot of homework plus really getting into the mental prep thing they're so obsessed with nowadays.

you can look at guys like stevens who are physically and mentally trained to within an inch of their lives so they really do make the most of the talent they do have, or grubmuller in 3.5 last year who was a bit more old school and tested something, anything, pretty much all the time.

[steve_r]

It would be great if there was a woman, or some women in F1.

Unfortunately Susie Wolff's DTM result do not point to her being good enough to get a drive at the sharp end. On the other hand being one second off Maldonado, and just a few tenths off the other Williams drivers out there, shows that she may be in the same league as some F1 drivers we have had in the past.

In order to get women into F1, what we need are girls/women who come up through the traditional Karting / Forula Ford / F3 / GP2 route. That way everyone could see if they were good enough - if you are near the front of GP2, then you are there, or there abouts.

To do that, the girl(s) would need sponsership and career support from an early age onwards.

Are there in women in any of the F1 teams young driver programs?

[bella]

Originally Posted by steve_r

To do that, the girl(s) would need sponsership and career support from an early age onwards.

Are there in women in any of the F1 teams young driver programs?

beitske visser, in the red bull juniors. there's no showboating going on about her being female which is pretty awesome.

[Paradise City]

Originally Posted by steve_r

It would be great if there was a woman, or some women in F1.

Unfortunately Susie Wolff's DTM result do not point to her being good enough to get a drive at the sharp end. On the other hand being one second off Maldonado, and just a few tenths off the other Williams drivers out there, shows that she may be in the same league as some F1 drivers we have had in the past.

In order to get women into F1, what we need are girls/women who come up through the traditional Karting / Forula Ford / F3 / GP2 route. That way everyone could see if they were good enough - if you are near the front of GP2, then you are there, or there abouts.

To do that, the girl(s) would need sponsership and career support from an early age onwards.

Are there in women in any of the F1 teams young driver programs?

Frentzen and R. Schumacher both flopped at DTM. DTM is a funny series. Some have made it as a trampoline to a very worthy international career others have flopped. I wouldn't necessarily use DTM as a litmus test as to how a particular driver may perform in other branches of the sport.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

Frentzen and R. Schumacher both flopped at DTM. DTM is a funny series. Some have made it as a trampoline to a very worthy international career others have flopped. I wouldn't necessarily use DTM as a litmus test as to how a particular driver may perform in other branches of the sport.

Ok - ignore DTM and check Susies results in F Renault and F3. Good enough for F1? Come to think of it - good enough for DTM?

I wouldn't use Ralf as a yardstick either - would he have made it into F1 with a different surname?

[Paradise City]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

Ok - ignore DTM and check Susies results in F Renault and F3. Good enough for F1? Come to think of it - good enough for DTM?

I wouldn't use Ralf as a yardstick either - would he have made it into F1 with a different surname?

Yes, given that there has always been sometime journeymen in F1 with international careers that have been lousy I think it'd be interesting if she joined Marussia for a few races or whatever.

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

Ok - ignore DTM and check Susies results in F Renault and F3. Good enough for F1? Come to think of it - good enough for DTM?

I wouldn't use Ralf as a yardstick either - would he have made it into F1 with a different surname?

actually if you dont think Ralf would have made it into F1 without a famous surname, and considering he won races once he got to F1, is that not a good example of a woman without results in lower categories being allowed to have a chance in F1?

once there in the right car and with the proper support who knows what she would be capable of.

[Beryl]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

once there in the right car and with the proper support who knows what she would be capable of.

Still probably far less than Nasr, Magnussen or Vandoorne would in the same situation.

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by Beryl

Still probably far less than Nasr, Magnussen or Vandoorne would in the same situation.

and thats the answer right there...if those guys (and others already mentioned as getting chances due to money,nationality etc) would be capable of winning in F1 given the right circumstances then why exactly are we setting the bar so low and then only limiting it at men only?

[Beryl]

You misunderstand. Whatever Susie can do, those three can probably do much much better in every situation. So why give Susie a seat? Only because she's a woman? That's plainly sexist against male drivers. Because she is marketable? That's a more valid reason, but us fans shouldn't be content with such reasoning.

[chillibowl]

Yep rereading your post and I totally read it the wrong way. Sorry my bad.

[steve_r]

Originally Posted by Beryl

You misunderstand. Whatever Susie can do, those three can probably do much much better in every situation. So why give Susie a seat? Only because she's a woman? That's plainly sexist against male drivers. Because she is marketable? That's a more valid reason, but us fans shouldn't be content with such reasoning.

The best 22 drivers in the world are not all in F1. There are reasons why the 22 that are in it are there - whether it be nationality, money, PR, or who you know, or your face just fits.

If you drop the view that only the best 22 in the whole world are worthy of a drive in F1, then you can eailiy justify giving a drive to a quick female racing driver - whether that be Susie Wolff or someone else in the future.

[Beryl]

Originally Posted by steve_r

The best 22 drivers in the world are not all in F1. There are reasons why the 22 that are in it are there - whether it be nationality, money, PR, or who you know, or your face just fits.

If you drop the view that only the best 22 in the whole world are worthy of a drive in F1, then you can eailiy justify giving a drive to a quick female racing driver - whether that be Susie Wolff or someone else in the future.

I know it's not realistic having the best 22 drivers in the world in F1. But I hope 22 of the best 40-50 isn't too much to ask, not 22 of the best 200...

[Aysedasi]

Hmmm, if it was possible to measure, it would be interesting to know if it's closer to 40-50 or 200........

[Teretonga]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Hmmm, if it was possible to measure, it would be interesting to know if it's closer to 40-50 or 200........

Probably closer to 200 overall if you went right across the talent pool in all aspects and disciplines of motorsport.

For example, NASCAR driver Ryan Newman was an accomplished Indy lights driver quite early on in his career but chose to go to NASCAR because that was where he saw his future.

There are certainly some drivers in F1 who would probably be around 150-200 on a list if all aspects of an evaluation system took place.
Remember the Castrol points system? There are drivers out there in other disciplines who could, if they had the opportunity or had chosen to go to that route.
All disciplines are now so specialised that the old days of being good in everything right off the bat has gone out to lunch.

There is NO way that any of the top group of F1 drivers could step into NASCAR (for example) and be competitive straight off the bat.

[Beryl]

You think it's a coincidence that the ROC has been dominated recently by F1 and the top Rally drivers? (Loeb and Ogier would be fast in almost everything)
The biggest driver talents (minus rally stars and the best Americans who go into NASCAR) still funnel into F1. Of course, not every driver that gets into F1 is a well rounded talent, but at least they have excelled at single seaters, proving high aptitude at one discipline.

I'd still wager that the current F1 grid would cover slots for 20 of the best 50 drivers in the world, the exceptions being GvdG and Chilton. Every (other) driver is a supertalent, whether rounded or focused. Take Romain Grosjean for example: winner in GT1 (was pretty quick for so little experience in that category too), ROC Champion, GP2 Champion.

[kipper]

Originally Posted by Beryl

You think it's a coincidence that the ROC has been dominated recently by F1 and the top Rally drivers? (Loeb and Ogier would be fast in almost everything)

To a certain degree, I do think it is a coincidence. Firstly, there are more F1 drivers competing in the competition than some other series, such as Indy Car or NASCAR; secondly, some top drivers within these series do not compete in RoC (e.g. Dario Franchitti); and finally, the RoC does through up the odd anomalous result, such as Albuquerque's win a couple of year's back. As such, I don't think the competition is a useful barometer of assessing the merits of one championship against the other.

[PepsiVodka]

A female in F1 would bring quite a stir to the sport. But I don't think the pace is there just yet for her. A few years in GP2/3 then maybe she'll be able to be in F1 but for now the answer is no.

[LC2guy]

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/26303405 Susie Wolff to drive in FP1 at British & German GPs

[Flavio Galtieri]

Extraordinary decision.

[BSchneiderFan]

Well, it's crunch time. Either she'll be woefully off the pace or she'll surprise a lot of people and put in competitive times. Nowhere to hide now.