[Ifroham4]

This has probably been done before, and will be done in the future.

But what do you all think of women in F1 as drivers?

Its possibly as has already been proven, but can they be successful?

Discuss

[uchetrip]

This has probably been done before, and will be done in the future.

But what do you all think of women in F1 as drivers?

Its possibly as has already been proven, but can they be successful?

Discuss

Very, very unlikely they will ever be more than a gimmick.

All good fun and all that but pardon the pun, they just don't have the balls.

[AnneseeKels]

This has probably been done before, and will be done in the future.

But what do you all think of women in F1 as drivers?

Its possibly as has already been proven, but can they be successful?

Discuss

I don't see why its impossible for a woman to be a successful F1 driver.

[uchetrip]

I don't see why its impossible for a woman to be a successful F1 driver.

I suppose it depends on how you measure success but it's not impossible, just highly unlikely.

Women are starting at a disadvantage because of their physical build and stamina.

A small example of physical issues such as seat belts would also make a woman coming into F1 feel very uncomfortable I would have thought.

In a sport where 1/1000th of a second matters, it is unlikely that a woman would be able to outperform all the men and be WDC unless it was contrived.

[investmentonlinev2006x]

In all honesty, because women are usually on the whole physically smaller than men, then there should be a minor advantage. Certainly there isn't a difference in the way their brains operate in this department.

The reason why you don't see all that many in the sport generally is that quite frankly in a lot of cases it bores the tears out of them, let alone wanting to actually drive in the sport.

[Adfcvkdg]

Well they make great pit ladies, especially the ones with the tight little mini ski.....

[uchetrip]

Besides which, with all the household chores that need doing, were would they find the time?

Seriously, I cannot see any reason why a woman couldn't be competitve in series like Tourning cars or lower Formula but the extreems of exertion and pressure in F1 would not lend itself to the female body.

I appreciate that people will accuse me of being sexist etc but I'm just being realistic.

Anyway, I'm not sexist. Some of my best friends are Women

[uchetrip]

In all honesty, because women are usually on the whole physically smaller than men, then there should be a minor advantage. Certainly there isn't a difference in the way their brains operate in this department.

The reason why you don't see all that many in the sport generally is that quite frankly in a lot of cases it bores the tears out of them, let alone wanting to actually drive in the sport.

It's the age old issue about sport.

If men and women were the same, why not unisex football matches, running, swimming, golf, tennis, cycling etc.

I appreciate that more men are fascinated by Motorsport than Women as the whole thrill of speed and danger in inherently part of the male psyche and makeup. At the age of puberty, Testosterone flows from out bodies like some sort of thrill magnet.

But again, that is not to say that a woman cannot succeed but that women are not predisposed to the sport and are not as suited to the extremes that F1 inflicts on the body as men are.

[massons]

If we compare the number of young boys with the number of young girls that go into motorsport I think its easy to see why its harder to find a woman in top level motorsport.

Out of all the young boys that start Karting a number will drop out because of lack of talent/interest/money the rest will move to junior formulae where the same apply and as they move up the development ladder they become fewer and fewer until there are the only 1-2 left each season that are good enough for F1.

The same elimination process applies for girls but since much fewer girls go into racing to begin with the chances of finding 1 woman that can go all the way to F1 are much less.

I think its possible that the most naturally talented woman driver may never sit in a racing car (and the same also applies for men)

[Ifroham4]

If we compare the number of young boys with the number of young girls that go into motorsport I think its easy to see why its harder to find a woman in top level motorsport.

Out of all the young boys that start Karting a number will drop out because of lack of talent/interest/money the rest will move to junior formulae where the same apply and as they move up the development ladder they become fewer and fewer until there are the only 1-2 left each season that are good enough for F1.

The same elimination process applies for girls but since much fewer girls go into racing to begin with the chances of finding 1 woman that can go all the way to F1 are much less.

I think its possible that the most naturally talented woman driver may never sit in a racing car (and the same also applies for men)

Yeah, I think this is one of the biggest reasons why we haven't got women in motorsport, simply because not many want to be in it.

Its all down to society and the stereotypes which society provides us with.

Thats the 'social' reasons why women aren't in F1.

Then we have the physical reasons why women aren't in F1. Which is exactly what Knock On states in his posts.

Men and women are different. Thats not sexist, its fact. Men and women are segregated in most physical sports, highlighting the difference. With F1, there no rule which says women aren't allowed in, so no women category, which makes it near impossible for women to succeed, when you take into account he social reasons, with lack of women interested in it, so already not many to pick from, and on top of that the physical disadvantage they have.

So in my opinion, its very unlikely to see a woman succeed in F1.

[Evdokia]

Yeah, I think this is one of the biggest reasons why we haven't got women in motorsport, simply because not many want to be in it.

Its all down to society and the stereotypes which society provides us with.

Thats the 'social' reasons why women aren't in F1.

Then we have the physical reasons why women aren't in F1.

I agree with you 100%. Just look at the success rate (or lack thereof) of women in other categories of motorsports. When they win people think it was a "gimme" (like Danicka and Ashley Force) and when they don't the media starts up with the "women drivers" B.S. that probably makes them wonder why they signed up for this punishment in the first place.

There are lots of things women do better... but there are just some things that will always remain a male-dominated sport/activity.

[uchetrip]

Yeah, I think this is one of the biggest reasons why we haven't got women in motorsport, simply because not many want to be in it.

Its all down to society and the stereotypes which society provides us with.

Thats the 'social' reasons why women aren't in F1.

However, ironically that's why if it were possible for a woman to become a Champion, she would be.

F1 has been gagging for a Black role model for years. The marketing potential is huge and although Lewis has demonstrated his ability without artificial help, the marketing opportunity is massive.

Same with Tiger in Golf. He is the best of the best but look at the new market it has opened to the sport. Golf is sexy again.

The temptation to engineer a female F1 Champion is huge and if there was any way it could have been done, it would have been, make no bones about it.

[investmentonlinev2006x]

If men and women were the same, why not unisex football matches, running, swimming, golf, tennis, cycling etc.



But again, that is not to say that a woman cannot succeed but that women are not predisposed to the sport and are not as suited to the extremes that F1 inflicts on the body as men are.

The argument is reasonably sound in most circumstancs, but women can actually stand the extremes as shown by the fact that there are women astronauts and fighter pilots.

With a motor car, the difference in performance is not determined by the physical strength of the driver or otherwise Gerhard Berger should have beaten most competitors most of the time. Rather the strength of the motor car itself is a bigger factor.

[exchpaypalgold]

The argument is reasonably sound in most circumstancs, but women can actually stand the extremes as shown by the fact that there are women astronauts and fighter pilots.

With a motor car, the difference in performance is not determined by the physical strength of the driver or otherwise Gerhard Berger should have beaten most competitors most of the time. Rather the strength of the motor car itself is a bigger factor.

Rollo, are you therefore saying women can compete to a high standard in F1?

I'm all for stamping out sex discrimination, but if a woman can not actually do as good a job as a male can then they shouldn't be hired. This applies to F1 surely!!

[GenManagerS]

Are racing drivers athletes? If your answer is yes then the reason is quite obvious, it's only worth discussion if your answer is no.

[Ifroham4]

Are racing drivers athletes? If your answer is yes then the reason is quite obvious, it's only worth discussion if your answer is no.

Thats a very good way of looking at it!

To me, F1 drivers are athletes.

For a women to succeed in F1, it'd be like a woman succeeding in a mens Tennis Tournament, not impossible, but highly unlikely.

[Ifroham4]

The argument is reasonably sound in most circumstancs, but women can actually stand the extremes as shown by the fact that there are women astronauts and fighter pilots.

With a motor car, the difference in performance is not determined by the physical strength of the driver or otherwise Gerhard Berger should have beaten most competitors most of the time. Rather the strength of the motor car itself is a bigger factor.

But Rollo, F1 is more demanding than being an astronaut or fighter pilot, women may well be able to easily cope with those roles, and could I am sure cope with driving an F1 car.

But they wouldn't be able be as competitive as a man in those conditions.

[KeestRast]

I agree with you 100%. Just look at the success rate (or lack thereof) of women in other categories of motorsports. When they win people think it was a "gimme" (like Danicka and Ashley Force) and when they don't the media starts up with the "women drivers" B.S. that probably makes them wonder why they signed up for this punishment in the first place.

There are lots of things women do better... but there are just some things that will always remain a male-dominated sport/activity.

I don't know anyone that called Ashley Force's win a "gimme". Shirley Muldowney won 3 Top Fuel championships. Angelle Sampey won 3 Pro Stock Motorcycle championships. Clearly there is a notable success rate.

[AnneseeKels]

I think its possible that the most naturally talented woman driver may never sit in a racing car (and the same also applies for men)

I totally agree.

As far as women being athletes are concerned, depends how much physical training they do. And on top of that, racing is more of a mental sport than most (all?) Olympic sports.

[Deengealf]

I don't know anyone that called Ashley Force's win a "gimme". Shirley Muldowney won 3 Top Fuel championships. Angelle Sampey won 3 Pro Stock Motorcycle championships. Clearly there is a notable success rate.

I think that's the thing that got me over DP's win in Motegi. Many say she lucked into it on fuel strategy, but that's a central feature of racing. Of course there was an element of luck, but why should DP be criticised for that simply because of her sex.

The fact is she's a competitve Indycar driver. That doesn't prove that a woman could do the same in F1, but it doesn't disprove the theory either.