The hiring of Susie Wolff to Williams

[Racer_D]

Okay, here we have a female driver who hasn't even achieved mediocrity in her career.
Her husband happens to be a cash supplier to Williams and she is suddenly Williams F1 test driver.

It all doesn't sound too bad as she is going to do simulator runs and straight-line aero runs. Sure. Someone has to do the dirty work.
Oh but wait, she also gets a run at the Young Driver Test this year!

Now there's the disgrace part.
Testing is so very limited in F1 and in my opinion we should have the best of the best in those Young Driver Tests. There are so many good drivers out there who don't have breasts or money so they don't get a chance to aim for the big league.

If Susie wants to drive an F1 car, why doesn't she just patch up an old F1 car and take it for a spin at a Brands Hatch track day or something. Or participate in the BOSS series.

The other disgrace part is related to Williams. 20 years ago we had Ayrton Senna offering his services for free because Williams was the best team and he needed to drive there to win.
Now we have Frank Williams explaining the world that Susie's husband had nothing to do with the appointment and that Susie's talents are a valuable addition to the team and will help the team develop.
Come on Frank!

Ok.
/rant

[amouzouris]

i have one question for you...would u say the same if it was a man?
EDIT: im not saying that i like pay drivers who dont prove themselves and just buy their way into F1...

[rich1701]

At the end of the day she will be judged on her pace. It is also good PR for the team and. If Williams can make a bit of money out that then why not?

[Racer_D]

In the case of a man married to one of the team's investors, yes I would have said the same

I doubt that it is good PR for the team - isn't this all a little too obvious?
It's one thing to promote women into the sport (that's doubtful too by the way - by far most of the world's sports seperate man and woman due to average physical performance) - but promote women into the sport by marriage? Come on.

And at the end of the day she will be judged on her pace? Maybe we can judge her on her pace already based on her vast career experience so far?

[elFranZ]

A disgrace? Oh please...
Pointless thread, and a bit sexist.

[Racer_D]

A bit? 100% I'd say. What's wrong with it?
Women deserve a place in F1?
Well maybe. For sure if they wear the right ring round their finger eh. Then at the Young Driver Test they can occupy the place of a talented young driver (m/f) who actually won races in their career.

I'm not the one making this sexist.

[strad]

There are so many good drivers out there who don't have breasts or money so they don't get a chance to aim for the big league.

Welcome to the real world. And it doesn't take breasts..Drivers today are eliminated if they are not camera friendly. Talent alone isn't enough these days, even without the pay for a drive aspect.

[raymondu999]

I don't think women deserve any special place in F1. I think they should be looked at as drivers. Good driver? Drive. Bad driver? No money no honey.

To be fair. We don't know if it really was because of Toto. Is nepotism likely? Very likely. But it's not a sure thing.

[wesley123]

It is always good to see talent making it's way into formula 1, don't mind if it is male or female. A good pick by Williams, choosing one because of it's capabilities and not because her husband is shareholder at Williams.

[xpensive]

...
Talent alone isn't enough these days,...

Truer words never spoken.

[gridwalker]

10 years ago we had Ayrton Senna offering his services for free because Williams was the best team ...

I think that the quality of this thread can best be summed up by the fact that 10 years ago Ayrton Senna had already been dead for 8 years and I don't remember his zombie requesting any track time - I'm sure I would have noticed that.

Seats (particularly testing seats) have been bought, sold and traded (in one way or another) since time immemorial. This is nothing new and it certainly won't be the last time. Might I point out that Damon Hill only got his first drive in F1 because another unspectacular female driver (Giovanna Amati) could neither qualify, nor pay the agreed price for her seat?

Sure, this particular trade stinks of nepotism, but Williams is a private enterprise : what they do is entirely up to them ...

The sport is trying to commit to holding a race in a nation where civilians are planting bombs in the streets, yet THIS is a disgrace for F1? A little track time for a shareholder's wife is trivial by comparison.

[Lycoming]

Even if the guy wasn't directly involved in the decision, that does not isolate his influence.

That said, as others have pointed out, this kinda thing happens all the time. And it is just a test seat.

[SimMaker]

About time we saw more women in F1.

They have made it to the Red Arrows, the best of the best. They can pull a lot of G and fly F-16s as good as the men, and apparantly are very good at multitasking, and since driving modern F1 car with all the buttons is a bit like racing while doing a Rubiks Cube, lets see what happens.

It would be a HUGE publicity boost to get a good woman driver in to F1, just look what Patrick did for Indy Cars...she got my wife watching racing.

[xpensive]

About time we saw more women in F1.
...

Why not, perhaps MrE should quote them in, along with some other under-represented groups?

Haven't seen a Swede in F1 since the terribly ill-advised Stefan Johansson.

[SimMaker]

"It would be a HUGE publicity boost to get a GOOD woman driver in to F1"

I did say a "GOOD" woman driver dude.