Female F1 drivers

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Tom
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Joined: 13 Jan 2006, 00:24
Location: Bicester

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Sorry, I realise that can be taken as sexist. I would like to see a girl in F1. I don't know if a girl has ever got past pre-qualifying before though. Is it Catherine Legge who tested a Minardi...and crashed it? For girls rallying seems to be favoured more. It is easier to get into if you've got money and we all know how easy it is for girls to persuede their dads to part with their cash :P
Murphy's 9th Law of Technology:
Tell a man there are 300 million stars in the universe and he'll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he'll have to touch to be sure.

manchild
manchild
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Joined: 03 Jun 2005, 10:54

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Lella Lombardi even won points (half point). Lella died same year when Givanna Amati participated in F1 for the first time (1992). Maria Teresa de Filippis was first ever feamle driver in F1 while the most successful but also most unlucky was Desiré Wilson.

http://www.forix.com/8w/lombardi.html
http://www.forix.com/8w/amati.html
http://www.forix.com/8w/de-filippis.html
http://www.forix.com/8w/dwilson.html

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Tom
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Joined: 13 Jan 2006, 00:24
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Imagine Eddie Jordan hiring Melinda Messenger to take on Michael Schumacher on even terms! I bet he wouldn't dare taking her off at the last corner...
So it's very likely she would not have been invited to drive the second Brabham at the start of the 1992 season if she had been a boy...
Perhaps therin lies the problem. Girls who have talent have been chucked in at the proverbial deep end for marketing purposes and couldn't achieve true status in rubbish cars. When they failed to do well people started taking the opinion that female F1 drivers were rubbish so stopped employing them. Maybe if girls were given the same treatment as the lads they would get into F1, look at Danica Patrick in IRL. From what I've heard she is a hell of a driver who often challenges for points. Maybe an F1 boss should consider her?
Murphy's 9th Law of Technology:
Tell a man there are 300 million stars in the universe and he'll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he'll have to touch to be sure.

dumrick
dumrick
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Joined: 19 Jan 2004, 13:36
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I wonder if there is any actual physical reason for a girl to not be as a good racing driver as a boy?
Desiré Wilson has a fairly positive biography at http://www.f1rejects.com/drivers/wilson/index.html

Oh, and Giovanna Amati was a real pleasure for the eyes! I understood then some of the hype some girls feel about good looking drivers in F1! I recall her Brabham being a very bad car, and she was a bit inexperienced...

DaveKillens
DaveKillens
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Joined: 20 Jan 2005, 04:02

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[quote="dumrick"]I wonder if there is any actual physical reason for a girl to not be as a good racing driver as a boy?quote]
On average. men are physically stronger. But in this age of power steering, that sort of is neutralized. Women really have no major disadvantage racing against men these days.

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ketanpaul
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Joined: 08 Mar 2005, 18:50
Location: New Delhi, India

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I really do want Danica Patrick to take a chance by making a move into F1. She will also be an interesting sponsor pick

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vyselegend
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Joined: 20 Feb 2006, 17:05
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DaveKillens wrote:On average. men are physically stronger. But in this age of power steering, that sort of is neutralized. Women really have no major disadvantage racing against men these days.
True, and since there are women in space, who can withstand the enormous amount of Gs of the spaceship's launch to orbit, I don't think cornering forces are an issue.(at least not for the overall health, but maybe their neck mucles are thinner so it requires more trainning...)

I think us men are always glad to see females in the sport, so if there are less of them in F1, the segregation is comming from their minds, as they show (by far) less interest in the sport. But women drivers spread in all disciplines, and I'm sure we'll soon see one in F1.

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Spencifer_Murphy
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Joined: 11 Apr 2004, 23:29
Location: London, England, UK

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On average. men are physically stronger. But in this age of power steering, that sort of is neutralized.
Not strictly true. I was reading an article in F1 racing magazine that shows just how strong a drivers forearms have to be to steer...

...It says that whilst steering alone isnt the hardest bit, doing it for two hours is...but the hardest bit of all is steering into a spin, when oversteering...

...apparently it takes some real strength to do.

That aside, I'd love 2 see Catherine Legge or Danica Patrick (or somebody else) make a move into F1, it would be good for the sport.

However reading Beverly Turner's book (she used to present for ITV's F1 coverage) called "The Pits" apparently some people still have the attitude that "Women dont belong in F1".

And its a shame but until that changes its gonna be hard for them, as far as i'm concerened if they can race a car quick enough they belong in F1. As it is Danica Patrick looks like she belongs in F1 far more than Tarso Marques or Alex Yoong (or Yuji Ide maybe) ever did!
Silence is golden when you don't know a good answer.

jaslfc
jaslfc
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Joined: 19 Nov 2004, 13:47

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maybe someone can get more info but i read once in the newspaper about scientific reason why men drive better than female. they said that the way mens brains are. they can judge distance and space.. and antiicipate space better than women.. sorry to offend any girls out there.. but this is roughly what i can remeber from that article...
dont know whether this is a reason .. but.. who knows

kilcoo316
kilcoo316
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Joined: 09 Mar 2005, 16:45
Location: Kilcoo, Ireland

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Spencifer_Murphy wrote:
Not strictly true. I was reading an article in F1 racing magazine that shows just how strong a drivers forearms have to be to steer...

...It says that whilst steering alone isnt the hardest bit, doing it for two hours is...but the hardest bit of all is steering into a spin, when oversteering...

...apparently it takes some real strength to do.
Uhh, but sure on oversteer, the wheel will steer itself into the slide :?

RH1300S
RH1300S
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Joined: 06 Jun 2005, 15:29

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jaslfc wrote:maybe someone can get more info but i read once in the newspaper about scientific reason why men drive better than female. they said that the way mens brains are. they can judge distance and space.. and antiicipate space better than women.. sorry to offend any girls out there.. but this is roughly what i can remeber from that article...
dont know whether this is a reason .. but.. who knows
AFIK that is absolutely true, men have better spatial skills (we can read maps)...........women have better verbal skills (they can tell us off when the get us lost) :twisted:

The G-Force in a space ship is very different to a race car, the neck is supported in the space ship. I would have thought women could train their muscles to do the job of driving an F1 car.

If you ever wonder if women can drive as well as men, just think of Michelle Mouton 8)

It's probably just the law of averages; far fewer women start wanting to be F1 drivers, so naturally there will be fewer getting up the motorsport ladder and even fewer getting to the top. Probably has nothing to do with ability, more disposition & circumstance.

manchild
manchild
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Joined: 03 Jun 2005, 10:54

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RH1300S wrote:If you ever wonder if women can drive as well as men, just think of Michelle Mouton 8)

It's probably just the law of averages; far fewer women start wanting to be F1 drivers, so naturally there will be fewer getting up the motorsport ladder and even fewer getting to the top. Probably has nothing to do with ability, more disposition & circumstance.
As you'd say...

Michelle Mouton - check 8)

law of averages - check 8)