Formula one

[betteliefsen]

I have a few feminist objections to F1 but watching the Hungarian practice sessions now it's really annoying me seeing the male team bosses having women to hold their umbrellas for them. I know there are worse feminist issues but really, just hold your own umbrella.

It is improving. Last week the first black woman stood on the podium. However they have a lot to do still. They got rid of the bloody ornamental women long ago (much to many people’s chagrin) and I’m sure I’ve seen attractive women lined up to applaud the men after a race.

But yes they should hold their own umbrellas the pigs

It's is improving yes, only tiny steps though. I was pleased with the podium last week.

Actually as die hard F1 fan, the ladies who are holding the umbrellas for the drivers are usually the press officers in charge of the teams so they are there to ensure what is being said and 'quoted'. If you look Lewis has a female helping him is physiotherapist and trainer responsible for his diet, sleeping patterns etc. The lovely lady on the podium last week was a track side engineer. As an avid fan I have seen women in the pits changing tyres and overseeing trackside stats.

To be honest I’m less bothered by brolly/podium girls and I more bothered by the fact that we still haven’t had a female F1 driver. Suzanne Wolff is is as close any woman has gotten as Williams development driver for a few years. She left the sport because she felt that she had progressed as far as she could.

Formula 1 is supposed to be the leading edge in technology and motorsport. NASCAR has many female drivers and has had for a long time now. I do hope there will be female F1 drivers in the not to distant future.

@lilygolightly don't forget there was also Carmen Jordan. Unfortunately both her and Susie Wolff were test/reserve drivers, and there were others including Jamie Chadwick who is a development driver for Williams this year.

Surprisingly, F1 drivers need to be incredibly fit and strong as well as being great drivers. I think it will be a long time before we see a female lining up on the grid.

@aliasundercover

Surprisingly, F1 drivers need to be incredibly fit and strong as well as being great drivers. I think it will be a long time before we see a female lining up on the grid.

Females can be fit and strong though!

As for the people holding the umbrellas, why should it be part of their job regardless of what they do ?

I agree re the drivers.

I don't think lack of female F1 drivers is sexism. Interestingly in the past e.g. 1930s, there were lots of female racing drivers. And there are female drivers now in lower formulas. Unfortunately, so far no woman has been good enough (physicality also plays a part) to get a modern F1 seat. If one were good enough they would have sponsors falling over themselves to support the first F1 woman.
As a previous poster said there are lots of women behind the scenes in F1 - engineers, team principals etc.

All the press officers, physios etc in F1 are women?

I've seen in the past and they are usually young, so no men or late middle aged women in those jobs?

That's really interesting. Is anti male sexism occurring? Men can be physios too!

Females can be fit and strong though!

Of course! You only have to look at athletes such as Nicola Adams or Nicole Cooke (two of my faves) to know that women can achieve th required fitness and strength, and have the determination to succeed.

It's a much smaller pool, though. And successful F1 drivers often seem to have father who took them go-karting every weekend from the age of 5 onwards. How many women have had similar opportunities? And how many of that number would be able to able to reach the required strength?

There will be female F1 drivers someday, but I don't think it's happening any time soon.

There are more and more female drivers competing in Le Mans every year which is a big positive.

I do not agree with last weeks podium though @betteliefsen, I felt that it was just paying lip service. If Mercedes were really bothered about equality, why hadn’t they put a woman habitually on the podium before? It’s almost like they had a look in the team garage and went, oh look, you’re female AND black, brilliant! Let’s trot you out so we can prove how un-racist and pro women we are!

I wondered that, I mean it's good to see she was there but if the motivation was the good publicity of BLM then it's too much virtue signalling.

I wondered that, I mean it's good to see she was there but if the motivation was the good publicity of BLM then it's too much virtue signalling.

On the umbrella thing. If anyone is watching the race today, it is a wet race and there are plenty of men holding umbrellas while the drivers are being interviewed. It will usually be their trainers or press officers., male or female.

I've been a petrol head for decades and remember Lella Lombardi in F1 the 70s. She managed to get just half a point! I think the biggest stumbling block for females in F1 (as opposed to F2 and F3) is the tremendous horizontal G forces in F1 - can be up to 6G in cornering. Imagine that over 14 corners in Hungary today and for up to two hours. F1 drivers train their neck muscles by laying flat on a bench and dangling 40kg weights off their neck. Eye watering. Just look at their necks - even the little guys like Lando Norris. These guys are supremely fit.

F1 would definitely welcome women drivers if they can up their physical game. A top woman, actually scoring points would be a marketing dream. The W series - all women low formula cars - was started a couple of years ago as, hopefully, a feeder series, won last year by Jamie Chadwick who is currently a development driver for Williams F1.

But there are women at the top. I definitely don't think it is institutionally sexist. Claire Williams is deputy principal at Williams - de facto team boss as her father is really only nominally principal. Bernadette Collins is chief engineering stratagist at Racing Point. Hannah Scmitz is chief strategist at Red Bull and was on the podium at the end of last season - mainly for her "brave" call in pitting Max Verstappen for new tyres under a safety car and temporarily handing the lead to Hamilton, which Verstappen was then able to regain and hold to win the race. - couldn't have done that on old tyres. Ruth Buscombe is head of strategy at Sauber. That's only a few examples. I don't want to bore for England....

A top woman, actually scoring points would be a marketing dream

I agree. The problem is that it’s a numbers game. The number of girls who take up karting seriously is tiny, and of those, the number who show serious talent and potential to become professional racing drivers is minuscule.

So far, only a handful of women have made it as far as F2, which is the main feeder series for F1. The most recent was Tatiana Calderon who raced last year, with little success. She has lost her seat for this season and is now very unlikely to make it to F1. I really hope the next woman in F2 is capable of racing at the sharp end, because if she is the F1 teams will be fighting to sign her. It’s important to understand, however, that the best male drivers in F2 don’t always make it to F1. Last year’s champion Nyck de Vries didn’t. He is racing in Formula E, not F1.

It's a shame about Tatiana Calderon, I was really hoping she'd keep her seat.

Watching the race now, it's dried up quickly.

@flyingbuttress43

On the umbrella thing. If anyone is watching the race today, it is a wet race and there are plenty of men holding umbrellas while the drivers are being interviewed. It will usually be their trainers or press officers., male or female.

I've been a petrol head for decades and remember Lella Lombardi in F1 the 70s. She managed to get just half a point! I think the biggest stumbling block for females in F1 (as opposed to F2 and F3) is the tremendous horizontal G forces in F1 - can be up to 6G in cornering. Imagine that over 14 corners in Hungary today and for up to two hours. F1 drivers train their neck muscles by laying flat on a bench and dangling 40kg weights off their neck. Eye watering. Just look at their necks - even the little guys like Lando Norris. These guys are supremely fit.

F1 would definitely welcome women drivers if they can up their physical game. A top woman, actually scoring points would be a marketing dream. The W series - all women low formula cars - was started a couple of years ago as, hopefully, a feeder series, won last year by Jamie Chadwick who is currently a development driver for Williams F1.

But there are women at the top. I definitely don't think it is institutionally sexist. Claire Williams is deputy principal at Williams - de facto team boss as her father is really only nominally principal. Bernadette Collins is chief engineering stratagist at Racing Point. Hannah Scmitz is chief strategist at Red Bull and was on the podium at the end of last season - mainly for her "brave" call in pitting Max Verstappen for new tyres under a safety car and temporarily handing the lead to Hamilton, which Verstappen was then able to regain and hold to win the race. - couldn't have done that on old tyres. Ruth Buscombe is head of strategy at Sauber. That's only a few examples. I don't want to bore for England....

I'll add Monisha Kaltenborn who was the real no nonsense Team Principal at Sauber. She put many a male journalist in their place during her tenure with the team.

Agreed. I didn't want to turn my post into the decine and fall of the Roman Empire though

PS good to see there are F1 fans on Mumsnet apart from me. Socially I seem to be outnumbered 20 to 1 by men. When I joined an exercise class a while ago we all had to introduce ourselves and say what our interests were....cooking, sewing, gardening, reading......it went. When I said motor racing they all looked at me as if I had flown in from Mars or summat

Interesting topic as a motoring enthusiast here more into car ownership and events like Goodwood Festival of Speed, Goodwood Revival, Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, 24 Heures du Mans, DTM and Bathurst rather than Supercar Blondie etc.

Used to follow F1 but felt there were too many evolving technical limitations owing to the rapid engineering development that required sensible safety regulations. Miss the WRC Group B rally craziness! Ironically now finding renewed interest in Formula E.

Just Champagne taste but Covid and Brexshit impacted lemonade money.

Would love to see a lady driver being more competitive in motor sport and more engineering and related motor sport opportunities for new girls in the field to level up eventually.

Desire Wilson won the Brands Hatch round of the British Formula 1 championship in 1980.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desir%C3%A9_Wilson#Complete_British_Formula_One_Championship_results

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