A female driver in Formula 1 is a long-term process. “I think it will be another ten years before we see a woman on the starting grid again,” says former driver Susie Wolff in The Guardian.
The wife of Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff is the director of the F1 Academy, the new racing series for female talents that starts this weekend in Austria. Italian Lella Lombardi was the last woman to start in a Formula 1 race in 1976.
“The fact that it is still a long way off is not only due to a shortage of female talent and of female drivers who continue to grow in the sport. We also have to realize that it is incredibly difficult to get into Formula 1,” said Wolff.
A woman who likes Formula 1 and turns on the TV only sees men.
“It is also very difficult for men, because there are only twenty seats available,” said Wolff, who has Formula 1 experience himself. She was a test and reserve driver for the Williams Formula 1 team for several years and drove two free practice sessions.
Dutch woman in F1 Academy
The F1 Academy starts with fifteen female racing talents, including the Dutch Emely de Heus. In the opening weekend at the Red Bull Ring, three races will be completed on Saturday. This is followed by six more race weekends. From 23 to 25 June the women will race on the Zandvoort circuit.
“I have to temper expectations, because not just any woman will enter Formula 1. That will be a long process. But the F1 Academy can be a real catalyst for change in the sport,” says Wolff. “The problem now is the increase of women in motorsport. There are no role models either, because a woman who likes Formula 1 and turns on the TV only sees men.”
View the 2023 Formula 1 calendar here
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2023-04-27 13:22:09
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