Female Drivers making the starting grid?

[AlexJ]

The physical side of F1 is mainly conditioning and F1 drivers are almost always small and lightweight, no problems there for a female driver.

Though finding one with the required talent...

Maria de Villota would not have anywhere near a sufficient level, too old for a rookie and hadn't won a race in many years. Susie Wolff is also too old, and has not had a good result in 6 years of DTM (you could say it is a highly competitive series and she doesn't get the latest machinery, but some of her team mates have done much better). Danica Patrick would have been a joke, never done well on road circuits and tbh mediocre results considering she's been driving for top teams in Indycar for 5 years.

Simona de Silvestro is more interesting, had some good results despite not driving for good teams, and more importantly these have been on road circuits where results are more affected by driver talent compared to machinery. Which said, a few good results in Indycar doesn't really scream out for getting an F1 seat, she would be coming in as a pay driver for Sauber. There has certainly been worse pay drivers though, I'd expect her to do okay, maybe some points if the car is reasonably competitive.

[idfx]

I like the ambition of women in sports risks, the reality is that they should start very young. Men and women can compete together. If she has talent we should support.

The problem is old: paying driver.

[idfx]

The physical side of F1 is mainly conditioning and F1 drivers are almost always small and lightweight, no problems there for a female driver.

Though finding one with the required talent...

Maria de Villota would not have anywhere near a sufficient level, too old for a rookie and hadn't won a race in many years. Susie Wolff is also too old, and has not had a good result in 6 years of DTM (you could say it is a highly competitive series and she doesn't get the latest machinery, but some of her team mates have done much better). Danica Patrick would have been a joke, never done well on road circuits and tbh mediocre results considering she's been driving for top teams in Indycar for 5 years.

Simona de Silvestro is more interesting, had some good results despite not driving for good teams, and more importantly these have been on road circuits where results are more affected by driver talent compared to machinery. Which said, a few good results in Indycar doesn't really scream out for getting an F1 seat, she would be coming in as a pay driver for Sauber. There has certainly been worse pay drivers though, I'd expect her to do okay, maybe some points if the car is reasonably competitive.

tony canaan worked with Danica and Simona.em report he quoted:

The characteristics they possessed was: assimilate the information, tips and advice quickly.
The team environment was actually really knew how to work in teams. The problem was the excessive aggression at the races ....

Grosjean, Maldonado, Perez has the same problem. Are aggressive and not think about the race. And the disaster is something inevitable.

[Sebp]

In stead of blaming society and everyone else, why not accept differences and let everyone do what they like best? Instead of forcing someone to like something they don't, just let them be do what makes them happy.

I am all for letting everyone do what makes them happy. I just think boys and girls are conditioned through various factors (parents, teachers, peers, TV, etc.) from a very early age to fulfill a certain gender role. The easiest way to test that is to give a ten year old boy a Barbie-doll for his birthday...
My cousin's son for example wanted to do ballet like his older sisters. Sadly he wasn't allowed because my cousin thought it was not "manly" enough.
As long as such antiquated gender stereotypes exist I don't think many girls will be tempted to pursue a career in motor racing.

[paipa]

can they endure constant repetitions of 4-5g for 90 minutes?

There are a number of female drivers in the IndyCar series that do this on a weekly basis. Formula 1 is not the only motorsport where 4 G is common - try running an IndyCar at 220 mph around the 24-degree banking of Texas Motor Speedway!

Not all 4G's are equal though, and it is exactly banking that makes ovals less demanding. The more banking there is, the more of the cornering force acts along the spine, pressing drivers into their seat. In F1-style unbanked corners all of that force is pulling the driver sideways which is much harder on the spine and muscles.

Plenty of rollercoasters pull 4-5G's safely on ordinary visitors because they are built with acceleration forces staying parallel to the riders' spines in mind. Do the same thing on a flat track and they'll be screaming in pain and all their energy drained in minutes.

That's not to say women couldn't deal with it, because I really have no idea. All I wanted to say is that a 24-degree banking makes things easier rather than harder as you seemed to imply.

[basti313]

I like the ambition of women in sports risks, the reality is that they should start very young. Men and women can compete together. If she has talent we should support.

The problem is old: paying driver.

You are right.
And when we come to "pay driver" we have to come to the question who will pay a female driver?
-Venezuela?
-Oil sheiks?
-Russia?

The money has to come from Europe or the US, because nowhere else women have an equal status. And there are not many payers in Europe or the US left.
For me TorroRosso is the only chance for a women to be promoted. They have the money, the seat and the backing to try it.
If Visser would have been better this year she would have had the big chance...

[turbof1]

I like the ambition of women in sports risks, the reality is that they should start very young. Men and women can compete together. If she has talent we should support.

The problem is old: paying driver.

You are right.
And when we come to "pay driver" we have to come to the question who will pay a female driver?
-Venezuela?
-Oil sheiks?
-Russia?

The money has to come from Europe or the US, because nowhere else women have an equal status. And there are not many payers in Europe or the US left.
For me TorroRosso is the only chance for a women to be promoted. They have the money, the seat and the backing to try it.
If Visser would have been better this year she would have had the big chance...

On the plus side: a woman in f1 has a higher marketing value, and should be able to got better sponsoring then a man. Not trying to be insensitive, but it just stands out more.

But, yeah the issue is at its roots: not many women start with carting, many fewer go to the lower feeder series and almost none end up in the higher ones.

[krisfx]

Ana Carrasco (Moto3) started early (15 years). Programs for new riders should have a special focus to women. The FIA ​​could develop something special

I disagree with the FIA needing to do something special, at the end of the day, if women want to compete on a level playing field they should come through the ranks on the same principle as men in the sport.

I know of a few female kart racers, who actually find it easier to get sponsorship to race due to the male orientated nature of motorsport and the PR boost a female brings.

Note: I'm not against female drivers whatsoever, I think it would be good to see them compete, but as people have mentioned, if 90% of the young drivers are male then it makes logical sense for that figure to carry through to the top.

[turbof1]

Chances are quite small anybody gets through to F1.

Say you have for each series to go through a chance of 1/10, whether man or woman, to get through, and there are 6 series before F1. A particular person will have this probability:

(1/10)^6= 0,000001%

Of course talent plays a huge role, but your average racing driver would have this chance.

[mnmracer]

In stead of blaming society and everyone else, why not accept differences and let everyone do what they like best? Instead of forcing someone to like something they don't, just let them be do what makes them happy.

I am all for letting everyone do what makes them happy. I just think boys and girls are conditioned through various factors (parents, teachers, peers, TV, etc.) from a very early age to fulfill a certain gender role. The easiest way to test that is to give a ten year old boy a Barbie-doll for his birthday...
My cousin's son for example wanted to do ballet like his older sisters. Sadly he wasn't allowed because my cousin thought it was not "manly" enough.
As long as such antiquated gender stereotypes exist I don't think many girls will be tempted to pursue a career in motor racing.

Annecdotes are nice and all -anyone can always cite one for any sort of cause- but peer-reviewed studies show time and again that (most) gender stereotypes have little to do with conditioning. There are always exceptions, let's not try and act like there is not a 'default setting'.

[hollus]

Source? You seem to be very sure of the truth...

[Moxie]

Indy had:
Bia Figueiredo - Br
danica patrick - EUA
simona silvestro-
mika duno - VNZ
sarah fisher -

Janet Guthrie

[aral]

Katherine Legge.

[idfx]

Sorry if anything is missing name.
F1
Maria Teresa de Filippis
Lella Lombardi
Divina Galica
Desire Wilson
Giovanna Amati
Maria de Villota
Susie Wolff

Indy
Bia Figueiredo
Danica patrick
Janet Guthrie
simona silvestro
mika duno
sarah fisher

Dtm
Katherine Legge.

[Roland Ehnström]

Chances are quite small anybody gets through to F1.

Say you have for each series to go through a chance of 1/10, whether man or woman, to get through, and there are 6 series before F1. A particular person will have this probability:

(1/10)^6= 0,000001%

Of course talent plays a huge role, but your average racing driver would have this chance.

Sorry, but your maths are a bit wrong: (1/10)^6 = 0.000001 = 0.0001%

But anyway, what you are saying is basicly that it takes 1 million drivers for one of them to reach Formula 1. Well, since 1950, 800 drivers have indeed reached Formula 1 - are you saying that 800 million drivers have tried their luck on the race tracks of the world since 1950?