We haven’t seen a female driver take part in an official F1 race session in 22 years, but that run will come to an end in 2014.
Susie Wolff will drive the Mercedes-powered Williams FW36 in two first practice sessions this year (at Silverstone and Hockenheim) and will become the first woman to take to the track on a Grand Prix weekend since Giovanna Amati in 1992.
The recent announcement from the Grove-based squad inspired me to take a look at the history of females racing in F1.
Some doubt that women have the physical and mental skills to compete in the sport, but many would argue against that point. I’m one of them. I don’t see any reason why a female cannot race well in F1, but there have been a number of stumbling blocks.
For starters, young women don’t have many role models to look up to and want to aspire to be like. The F1 grid has been dominated by men for so long but recent activity could change that.
Simona de Silvestro joined the Sauber F1 Team last month. The 25-year-old raced in the IndyCar series for four years and scored her first podium in 2013. When asked in an interview with Richland F1 what the main barriers are for women and F1, she said: "It’s kind of hard to say what the major barrier to Formula 1 is, but in my opinion in order to get to Formula One you have to be really competitive in other series.
"You don’t get to F1 just because. So far I’ve been able to achieve results in other categories, so I think that’s why I’m being taken serious for this next step to come into Formula One. I think the main thing is to be competitive and really fast in a race car."
GP3 and F3 Cup racer Alice Powell, who wrote a monthly column for my blog last year, commented on the claims that women are not fit enough to race in F1. "It is talked about that women are not fit enough to drive in Formula One," she told The Telegraph. "We may not be as strong as men initially (we naturally have 30 per cent less muscle); however, it does not mean we can’t work to be race fit. It just means we have to work that bit harder on building our strength and stamina."
Incredibly, just two female drivers have competed in official F1 Grands Prix. Three more attempted to qualify but failed. Maria Teresa de Filippis was the first woman to take part in a Formula 1 race weekend, eight years after the birth of the sport.
She made her debut at the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix, driving in a privately entered Maserati 250F. The Italian failed to qualify - only 16 drivers were allowed to do so – by six seconds. She was joined in the drop zone by fellow debutant Bernie Ecclestone, who you may have heard of.
The next round in Belgium allowed all drivers to compete and De Filippis qualified in last place, 43 seconds down on the fastest time. She scored the only race finish of her career and crossed the line two laps down in 10th (and last) place. She was unable to compete in France and suffered engine failures in Portugal and Italy before joining the Behra-Porsche RSK team for 1959. She failed to qualify for the first round in Monaco by three seconds. After her lack of success and the safety concerns involved in racing, she turned her back on the sport.
F1 had to wait 15 years before the next female driver arrived. Italian Lella Lombardi took part in 17 rounds between 1974 and 1976, racing for the likes of March, BRM and even Frank Williams’ Racing Cars (which later became the Williams F1 Team). She is the most successful female F1 driver to date after qualifying for 12 races in the sport and even scoring a point. Well, more specifically half a point as the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix was stopped prematurely.
After leaving the sport, she raced in NASCAR and sportscars until she unfortunately died of cancer in 1992, at the age of just 50. Brit Divina Galcia also looked to make her mark on the sport in the mid-70s. Racing was her second career, as she was a successful skier and competed in four winter Olympics. She was invited to a celebrity car race and impressed, eventually taking up karting before moving to Formula Two.
Galcia then made her F1 debut at the 1976 British Grand Prix, driving a Surtees TS16. Her performance wasn’t particularly notable, she failed to qualify, but she raced with the number 13 – the first time it had been used in the sport in, ironically, 13 years. She raced in the British series in 1977 before failing to qualify for the first two rounds of the 1978 F1 season for Hesketh Racing. She then returned to the British series, where she registered a handful of podium finishes, before moving to sportscar and truck racing.
South African Desere Wilson was the next female to take the fight to the men, after a relatively successful career driving in the feeder series. She only attempted to qualify for one race, the 1980 British Grand Prix, and failed to do so. However, she found success in the short-lived British F1 series and won the Evening News Trophy at Brands Hatch – becoming the first (and so far only) woman to win an F1 race.
The 1981 South African Grand Prix had originally been a championship event, but the FISA-FOTA war meant it was turned into a non-championship race. She was entered by Tyrrell Racing and qualified in 16th. She climbed through the field in wet conditions after a bad start but fell back as the track dried, eventually spinning out while letting the leaders through. She later raced in endurance racing and the IndyCar series.
The last female to race in F1 was Givanna Amati. She raced in Formula Abarth, Italian Formula 3 and Formula 3000 in the 80s before making her F1 debut with Brabham, who by then had transformed into a struggling backmarker, in 1992. She was entered in the South African, Mexican and Brazilian Grands Prix but she failed to qualify for all three. Amati was eventually replaced by Brit Damon Hill, who later went on to win the 1996 world title for Williams.
For 22 years, Formula 1 has lacked a female presence on the track. However, that run will end in 2014 thanks to Susie Wolff. I think this is great news for F1 and may well help more females take up motorsport in the future, but I don’t believe the Scot has the raw speed and potential to be on the grid.
Sure, she performed well at the Silverstone Young Driver Test, deserves the chance and is a good driver, but there are certainly plenty of others who are faster and would do a better job. It will be good PR for Williams and F1, but I don’t think she can take the fight to the current line-up.
De Silvestro, on the other hand, looks to be the real deal. I think she could do quite well racing in F1 and she scored good results with the machinery at her disposal in IndyCar, registering a podium at the tricky Houston street circuit last year and scoring 13 top 10 finishes during her time in the series.
It is certainly encouraging to see more female drivers joining F1 and it can’t hurt the sport. I don’t think it should strictly be just for male drivers. I’m interested to see how Wolff performs against the current crop of drivers in her FP1 sessions, maybe she will prove me wrong, and what will come from De Silvestro’s move to Sauber.
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| © Octane Photographic |
The recent announcement from the Grove-based squad inspired me to take a look at the history of females racing in F1.
Some doubt that women have the physical and mental skills to compete in the sport, but many would argue against that point. I’m one of them. I don’t see any reason why a female cannot race well in F1, but there have been a number of stumbling blocks.
For starters, young women don’t have many role models to look up to and want to aspire to be like. The F1 grid has been dominated by men for so long but recent activity could change that.
Simona de Silvestro joined the Sauber F1 Team last month. The 25-year-old raced in the IndyCar series for four years and scored her first podium in 2013. When asked in an interview with Richland F1 what the main barriers are for women and F1, she said: "It’s kind of hard to say what the major barrier to Formula 1 is, but in my opinion in order to get to Formula One you have to be really competitive in other series.
 |
| © Sauber F1 Team |
GP3 and F3 Cup racer Alice Powell, who wrote a monthly column for my blog last year, commented on the claims that women are not fit enough to race in F1. "It is talked about that women are not fit enough to drive in Formula One," she told The Telegraph. "We may not be as strong as men initially (we naturally have 30 per cent less muscle); however, it does not mean we can’t work to be race fit. It just means we have to work that bit harder on building our strength and stamina."
Incredibly, just two female drivers have competed in official F1 Grands Prix. Three more attempted to qualify but failed. Maria Teresa de Filippis was the first woman to take part in a Formula 1 race weekend, eight years after the birth of the sport.
She made her debut at the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix, driving in a privately entered Maserati 250F. The Italian failed to qualify - only 16 drivers were allowed to do so – by six seconds. She was joined in the drop zone by fellow debutant Bernie Ecclestone, who you may have heard of.
The next round in Belgium allowed all drivers to compete and De Filippis qualified in last place, 43 seconds down on the fastest time. She scored the only race finish of her career and crossed the line two laps down in 10th (and last) place. She was unable to compete in France and suffered engine failures in Portugal and Italy before joining the Behra-Porsche RSK team for 1959. She failed to qualify for the first round in Monaco by three seconds. After her lack of success and the safety concerns involved in racing, she turned her back on the sport.
F1 had to wait 15 years before the next female driver arrived. Italian Lella Lombardi took part in 17 rounds between 1974 and 1976, racing for the likes of March, BRM and even Frank Williams’ Racing Cars (which later became the Williams F1 Team). She is the most successful female F1 driver to date after qualifying for 12 races in the sport and even scoring a point. Well, more specifically half a point as the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix was stopped prematurely.
After leaving the sport, she raced in NASCAR and sportscars until she unfortunately died of cancer in 1992, at the age of just 50. Brit Divina Galcia also looked to make her mark on the sport in the mid-70s. Racing was her second career, as she was a successful skier and competed in four winter Olympics. She was invited to a celebrity car race and impressed, eventually taking up karting before moving to Formula Two.
Galcia then made her F1 debut at the 1976 British Grand Prix, driving a Surtees TS16. Her performance wasn’t particularly notable, she failed to qualify, but she raced with the number 13 – the first time it had been used in the sport in, ironically, 13 years. She raced in the British series in 1977 before failing to qualify for the first two rounds of the 1978 F1 season for Hesketh Racing. She then returned to the British series, where she registered a handful of podium finishes, before moving to sportscar and truck racing.
South African Desere Wilson was the next female to take the fight to the men, after a relatively successful career driving in the feeder series. She only attempted to qualify for one race, the 1980 British Grand Prix, and failed to do so. However, she found success in the short-lived British F1 series and won the Evening News Trophy at Brands Hatch – becoming the first (and so far only) woman to win an F1 race.
The 1981 South African Grand Prix had originally been a championship event, but the FISA-FOTA war meant it was turned into a non-championship race. She was entered by Tyrrell Racing and qualified in 16th. She climbed through the field in wet conditions after a bad start but fell back as the track dried, eventually spinning out while letting the leaders through. She later raced in endurance racing and the IndyCar series.
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| © LAT |
For 22 years, Formula 1 has lacked a female presence on the track. However, that run will end in 2014 thanks to Susie Wolff. I think this is great news for F1 and may well help more females take up motorsport in the future, but I don’t believe the Scot has the raw speed and potential to be on the grid.
Sure, she performed well at the Silverstone Young Driver Test, deserves the chance and is a good driver, but there are certainly plenty of others who are faster and would do a better job. It will be good PR for Williams and F1, but I don’t think she can take the fight to the current line-up.
De Silvestro, on the other hand, looks to be the real deal. I think she could do quite well racing in F1 and she scored good results with the machinery at her disposal in IndyCar, registering a podium at the tricky Houston street circuit last year and scoring 13 top 10 finishes during her time in the series.
It is certainly encouraging to see more female drivers joining F1 and it can’t hurt the sport. I don’t think it should strictly be just for male drivers. I’m interested to see how Wolff performs against the current crop of drivers in her FP1 sessions, maybe she will prove me wrong, and what will come from De Silvestro’s move to Sauber.
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