Is F1 a unisex sport?

DonDaddyD

Is F1 a unisex sport?

If not, why not and should it be?

Finally, if F1 isn't open to girls what is the female equivalent to F1?

notsoblue

I know more women that follow F1 than follow football.

rick_chasey

DonDaddyD wrote:

Is F1 a unisex sport?

If not, why not and should it be?

Finally, if F1 isn't open to girls what is the female equivalent to F1?

In theory yes.

I think a smaller team recently took on a female test driver.

In practice it is a male environment.

graeme_s-2

It is open to women, yes. A handful of women have competed during F1 races back in the day. This year Marussia and Williams have both signed female test drivers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fe ... ne_drivers

I think part of the reason you see so few women (basically none at the moment) in F1 is there are hardly any women karting, taking part in lower formulae etc. But it is theoretically unisex, yes.

EKE_38BPM

DonDaddyD wrote:

what is the female equivalent to F1?

Ironing?

rick_chasey

Danica Patrick is probably the most successful female racing driver, but she was in Indy racing, so it doesn't count.

graeme_s-2

Rick Chasey wrote:

Danica Patrick is probably the most successful female racing driver, but she was in Indy racing, so it doesn't count.

She's test driven/done a publicity drive in an F1 car on a couple of occasions.

Kieran_Burns

Surely women could never compete?

How could they get the car into the parc ferme?

(I'm going into hiding now)

rjsterry

Slightly OT: not F1, but still motor sport. I watched a documentary on BBC4 the other day about the lunacy that was Group B rallying in the 80s. One of the significant drivers in that was Michele Mouton. She was certainly competitive with her male contemporaries. As has been mentioned, I think it's more about pervasive attitudes in motorsport - you wouldn't see a load of pretty boys in tight shorts hanging around the grid, would you?

asprilla

rjsterry wrote:

As has been mentioned, I think it's more about pervasive attitudes in motorsport - you wouldn't see a load of pretty boys in tight shorts hanging around the grid, would you?

No, because then it would look like the start line at a sportive.

gtvlusso

A number of years ago Mrs gtvlusso was involved in the legal side of setting up this:



Mrs gtvlusso thought it was a good idea until the knobend that designed the graphic did the 'woman' in lipstick style - kinda shot the whole thing for her as she really thought that they wanted to be taken seriously as a competitive sport pushing for F1 female drivers.....however, the marketing and guy that set it up seemed to have missed their own point......

mudcow007

shesh you know nothing!

women are crap drivers, i know this to be true as it was written in Heat magazine

all of the above is untrue

PedalPedant

rjsterry wrote:

One of the significant drivers in that was Michele Mouton. She was certainly competitive with her male contemporaries.

I seem to recall Louise Aitken Walker was no slouch in a rally car either. It didn't always go smoothly for her though http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WhZFRUcyw0 :shock:

PP

mudcow007

aye, plus there was the simmonite sisters who rallied too

bit of info about em Here

stage_fright

Motorsport is numerically male dominated at all levels, though there are some pretty handy female drivers in British Club motorsport - interviwed Zoe North on the podium more than once last year after some fine drives in her V8 Sunbeam Tiger, and Isla Cox is usually challenging in the Castle Combe saloon series.

Some of the issues Danica Patrick - as mentioned above - faced when racing here in the 1990s sum up some of the challenges girls face. her team were fielding three cars in the junior single seater series I was involved in, and at some circuits you would get a good grid position by getting a 'tow' of another car for part of the lap and you would work together to tow each other round - other than the two guys in her team who refused as they 'didn't want to get outqualified by a girl'. Almost the same phrase was used to me by a driver who punted the lady running third in a leading saloon series into the gravel on the final lap at Brands - denying her a first ever podium finish.

The examples above are extreme - there is no reason a woman shoudln't be quick and some have been very quick, Davina Galica was very talented and took at least one win in the British F1 series (yes, we once had a national Formula One series..), Lella Lombardi was quick in F1, and as someone mentioned Michelle Mouton was bang on the pace in world level rallying.

cooldad

Women in F1

gtvlusso

Steve McQueen was beaten by a girl......

'BACK IN the UK Steve McQueen was being semi-macho by driving a Mini at the Brands Hatch BRSCC Meeting. He was, however, soundly beaten, and by a woman, luckily it was Christabel Carlisle! The outright race winner was Mike Parkes; not in a Ferrari but behind the wheel of a Jaguar Mk11. An unfortunate Jimmy Blumer was disqualified, after winning the sports car race in a Cooper Monaco, for receiving a push start. Victory passed to the second placed Lotus Fifteen of Roy Pierpoint. A week later, at Silverstone, the Aston Martin Owners Club joined forces with the Eight Clubs Meeting and 750 Motor Club to produce an entertaining day of motor racing with names such as Peter Sargent, Jem Marsh, Graham Warner, Bill Moss and Dick Protheroe, all winning prizes. '

Apparently, he was bl**dy annoyed after the race.....

graeme_s-2

cooldad wrote:

Women in F1

Hmm, that link looks familiar... where have I seen it before?

CiB

Women can't do F1 as it's on Sunday dinnertimes when the little dears are already busy. C'mon guys.

I met Ms Mouton once, RAC Middlesborough Parc Ferme in around 1982 maybe 83.

cooldad

Graeme_S wrote:

cooldad wrote:

Women in F1

Hmm, that link looks familiar... where have I seen it before?

Nope it's an actual genuine link. For a change.

Twostage

Is one of the issues the g-force from cornering, braking etc. being too much for the female neck ?

rick_chasey

Twostage wrote:

Is one of the issues the g-force from cornering, braking etc. being too much for the female neck ?

No - hence the two female test drivers.

gtvlusso

Also there are allot of female fighter pilots who are subjected to far more forces than an F1 car can produce.